Fantasmic gets cut to just 2 shows per week

[marni1971]

Sooo.... it hasn`t officially been announced this is due to economy?

Fant! is due for a lot of enhancements, the kind mainly that don`t need black outs.

Anyone think this is a way of upgrading the show without totally closing it?

 

[jt04]

Sooo.... it hasn`t officially been announced this is due to economy?

Fant! is due for a lot of enhancements, the kind mainly that don`t need black outs.

Anyone think this is a way of upgrading the show without totally closing it?

Yes the guy who posted #'s 164, 166, 169, 175, 177, 179, 191, 282, 283, and 285 (and 322) of this thread seems to think so.

 

[wdwmagic]

Would Disney ever announce it's because of predicted poor attendance??

If it were a refurb, I can't see why they wouldnt say so. It would reduce a lot of the criticism. Disney are never usual shy of announcing things as a refurb. They would simply say "For your future enjoyment, Fantasmic will be performed on a reduced schedule while we perform some upgrades and enhancements."

The information from entertainment seems to be suggesting its all about money saving. While it's down, they may well do some tweeks, but this isnt the primary reason.

 

[RiversideBunny]

I bet THAT was interesting! :lookaroun:lol:

Uh... make that HARLEM.

:lol:

 

[Eyorefan]

Would Disney ever announce it's because of predicted poor attendance??

If it were a refurb, I can't see why they wouldnt say so. It would reduce a lot of the criticism. Disney are never usual shy of announcing things as a refurb. They would simply say "For your future enjoyment, Fantasmic will be performed on a reduced schedule while we perform some upgrades and enhancements."

The information from entertainment seems to be suggesting its all about money saving. While it's down, they may well do some tweeks, but this isnt the primary reason.

I agree. The way it was announced to the CMs really makes it sound like a cost cutting messure.

I think we can all agree that as wonderful as Fantasmic is, it could really use an upgrade. I wouldn't even be to upset if they decided to replace it with something different. I just don't see how you can grow DHS without a night time show.

 

[markjohns1]

I don't think overall profits are affected at all, though. People who are planning trips to WDW aren't going to cancel because of this. Whether they spend the evening at DHS or Epcot doesn't really matter. They'll still be eating dinner and buying souvenirs.

I think this is key. More than likely if a guest will be leaving DHS early, they will probably end up somewhere else on property. I think even if a guest doesn't have a park hopper, they may end up at DTD or back at their resort (if they're on property). I think most day trippers are going to want to make the most of their money and spend the entire day, even with the lack of Fantasmic. Sure some people will leave and go off property, but I don't think there's anything that can be done to prevent this, with or without Fantasmic. Lots of people don't stay for Wishes or Illuminations either.

I have also been wondering if they are rethinking how many nighttime events they want to have. Sure they were trying to add one to DAK, but that appears to be off the table. Maybe they are actually wanting guests to move between parks. I see this helping in a number of ways. They save on the number of nighttime shows they have to run. It promotes park hopping, which may help sell the park hopping option to those who wouldn't have gotten it otherwise. It gets people in those WS, MK, and DTD shops and restaurants. It might even help the attendance for the special events like the P&P Party. I can see that DHS dinner/Fantasmic package going like hotcakes now too.

As far as the loss in the nighttime novelty toy and popcorn sales, all of that merchandise is available at MK and Epcot throughout the nighttime events. Using Epcot as an example, I would think it would be more desirable to have guests walking through all of the WS shops and past all the food/drink vendors, while still having the opportunity to purchase those same novelty toys and not requiring guests to queue for Illuminations for a chance to see it. Seems more profitable to me then guests standing in line for Fantasmic.

 

[jt04]

Would Disney ever announce it's because of predicted poor attendance??

If it were a refurb, I can't see why they wouldnt say so. It would reduce a lot of the criticism. Disney are never usual shy of announcing things as a refurb. They would simply say "For your future enjoyment, Fantasmic will be performed on a reduced schedule while we perform some upgrades and enhancements."

The information from entertainment seems to be suggesting its all about money saving. While it's down, they may well do some tweeks, but this isnt the primary reason.

I am still leaning towards an upgrade because that makes the most sense to me. I know they have developed some new stuff for the new nighttime show at DCA and I would think they might want to incorporate that at DHS. Time will tell.

 

[wdwmagic]

I am still leaning towards an upgrade because that makes the most sense to me. I know they have developed some new stuff for the new nighttime show at DCA and I would think they might want to incorporate that at DHS. Time will tell.

I am not saying some updates wont happen at some point, possibly during the closing. However, from what the cast have been told, this is not the reason its being closed.

If it were primarily a refurb, why would that not be given as the reason?

 

[Timmay]

I doubt daily attendance numbers would be effected much at all by it. I doubt many people at WDW are going to say "Well Fantasmic isn't running so we aren't going to DHS today".

You are kidding, right? :ROFLOL: Several very well respected touring plans tell people to go to MK on days when Spectro is not playing just to avoid the crowds...meaning there is a significant increase in the amount of guests on the days Spectro is performed. Are you really saying the same thing isn't going to apply to DHS??

 

[markjohns1]

I just don't see how you can grow DHS without a night time show.

Didn't DAK see a significant increase in attendance with the addition of E:E? I don't think a fireworks/nighttime show is required to boost attendance. It certainly helps, but is not the only way. It seems that even if a portion of the current rumors become a reality, DHS will become a much stronger park. A MI coaster (and further Pixar Place expansion), a replacement for the backlot tour, and Star Tours 2.0 create quite a compelling upcoming lineup beyond what TSM is already achieving. If E:E can help DAK so much, DHS stands to gain a lot by those additions.

Maybe Disney sees DHS as a much more ride/attraction-oriented park now. It is the new location for Grad Night. Does anyone know if US (not IoE) has a nighttime show? If it does it is well below my radar. And because US and DHS are in the most direct competition theme-wise, maybe they have determined a stronger attraction lineup is better than a nightly evening show.

 

[Eyorefan]

Didn't DAK see a significant increase in attendance with the addition of E:E? I don't think a fireworks/nighttime show is required to boost attendance. It certainly helps, but is not the only way. It seems that even if a portion of the current rumors become a reality, DHS will become a much stronger park. A MI coaster (and further Pixar Place expansion), a replacement for the backlot tour, and Star Tours 2.0 create quite a compelling upcoming lineup beyond what TSM is already achieving. If E:E can help DAK so much, DHS stands to gain a lot by those additions.

Maybe Disney sees DHS as a much more ride/attraction-oriented park now. It is the new location for Grad Night. Does anyone know if US (not IoE) has a nighttime show? If it does it is well below my radar. And because US and DHS are in the most direct competition theme-wise, maybe they have determined a stronger attraction lineup is better than a nightly evening show.

Yes, there are alot of things on the table right now that, if they are built, would be more than enough to keep people in the park without a show at night. But right now, DHS is not a ride-oriented park. It's a show park. A park where most of the shows last performances are at 5:30 or 6:00. How are you going to convince people to hang around for dinner when you can count on one hand the number of things that will still be open when they are done eating at 7:00?

Everest boosted DAK's attendance because it brought something into the park that wasn't there before. You don't get an attendance boost by taking away something 10,000 people go to see every night. I love Fantasmic!, but I'll admitt that its a show that could use and update/replacement. I just think that taking it away entirely with out something similar to replace it at this point in time is a big gamble that Disney is taking just save some cash.

 

[MousDad]

Wishes is going to be cozy 5 nights a week in January, what with the MK crowd and 2 park's worth of hoppers converging for that show. Hopefully, they will be issuing complimentary travel-sized deodorant at the gates.

 

[jmvd20]

You are kidding, right? :ROFLOL: Several very well respected touring plans tell people to go to MK on days when Spectro is not playing just to avoid the crowds...meaning there is a significant increase in the amount of guests on the days Spectro is performed. Are you really saying the same thing isn't going to apply to DHS??

I am saying that people are not going to change their travel plans because Fantasmic is not playing every night. I am also saying that the overall attendance numbers at DHS will not see a significant drop off due to the removal of Fantasmic. What is ( :ROFLOL about this thread is the number of people who think Fantasmic is the ultimate crowd drawing attraction at DHS.

Any well respected touring plan can agree or disagree with that, I could care less. The fact is that WDW management feels that Fantasmic is not important to increasing their bottom line. If that were not the case then they would not have shuttered it for 5 nights a week. Point being - Fantasmic is simply not what keeps DHS in operation.

 

[Timmay]

I am saying that people are not going to change their travel plans because Fantasmic is not playing every night.

But...that isn't what you said.

I doubt daily attendance numbers would be effected much at all by it

That is what you said.

I am asking you how that can be when it is the very case at MK?:shrug: People do choose to go or not go to certain parks because of the nightly entertainment that is or isn't taking place.

 

[coasterphil]

Maybe Disney sees DHS as a much more ride/attraction-oriented park now. It is the new location for Grad Night. Does anyone know if US (not IoE) has a nighttime show? If it does it is well below my radar. And because US and DHS are in the most direct competition theme-wise, maybe they have determined a stronger attraction lineup is better than a nightly evening show.

Universal has the bare bones Universal 360 show during peak times. They aren't allowed to do much at all with fireworks because they are surrounded by residential areas and therefore don't have the freedom that Disney has. If they could I'm pretty sure they'd add a blowout nighttime show.

 

[VillanovaBlue]

The problem I see with your thinking here is that you're assumming that skipping DHS means not buying theme park admission for that day. But how many people visiting the WDW Resort for a week would buy theme park admission for the entire week and just visit the MK, Epcot or AK more often in place of DHS, thereby bringing in the same ticket revenue whether the guest visits DHS or not? How many of them would drop a day from their admission because of the lack of Fantasmic, and therefore, a decision not to visit DHS? And let's not forget that by the time you get to 6,7,8 day passes, if I'm not mistaken, the cost of adding another day is quite less than 40 dollars.

I'm not sure how the business end of this works, so maybe someone else can enlighten me. Regarding the bottom line of each individual theme park, does each park get "credit" in their daily "sales" for admissions used at that park? For example, say I buy my 7 day pass and then I visit DHS on the first day. Does the money for that particular admission then go into the coffers of DHS, or is it still just credited to the WDW Resort as a whole?

As an illustration of what I mean, here is how Walmart gift cards work. Let's say you buy a $50 Walmart gift card at your local Walmart and then mail it off to your nephew 200 miles away as a graduation gift. When he uses that card at his local Walmart, it's his Walmart that gets the 50 bucks. You're Walmart doesn't get the 50 bucks even though you bought it there. They don't get credited with a sale when you buy that card. That money is in limbo until it's redeemed in which case that store gets the money. Is that how it works with WDW ticket admissions? Or does the entire fee of admissions for the entire week just go into the WDW general fund?

If it all goes into the general fund, then it makes no difference which park you use your admissions at. But if each park gets their share of the admission money, then DHS would suffer loss of revenue if people visit the other 3 parks instead.

I'm not talking about attendance at just DHS...I'm thinking that Disney is expecting a Resortwide attendance drop, thus they are looking at ways across the board (as any good business would) to reduce costs to offset that lost revenue (I know, these things don't always directly offset each other, but in general, they do in some way)...one way to reduce costs - less F! shows...

 

[socalkdg]

I say its more about boosting up the new Idol show then anything else. Still at the park in the evening, no shows? Go to Idol.

The worst thing that could happen would be put money into Idol, then not have people show up for the finals in the evening because they are all at Fantasmic.

 

[shoppingnut]

So when Fantasmic is running at DHS you stay at that park the entire day from morning until Fantasmic ends?

Yes, I do, in fact I plan for it. Just like I go to MK on the nights spectro is playing because it is one of my favorite parades. Now without F if I go that day, I will not plan on eating at HS since I'll be out of there by 6p, maybe I'll consider going someplace else or even go off property to eat and call that night my shopping night at the premium outlets and Bealls.

 

[shoppingnut]

I am saying that people are not going to change their travel plans because Fantasmic is not playing every night. I am also saying that the overall attendance numbers at DHS will not see a significant drop off due to the removal of Fantasmic. What is ( :ROFLOL about this thread is the number of people who think Fantasmic is the ultimate crowd drawing attraction at DHS.

Any well respected touring plan can agree or disagree with that, I could care less. The fact is that WDW management feels that Fantasmic is not important to increasing their bottom line. If that were not the case then they would not have shuttered it for 5 nights a week. Point being - Fantasmic is simply not what keeps DHS in operation.

What is going to happen is that the two nights that F is playing the park is going to be packed because they are going to plan on being in HS that day for F. Not every family is going to fork out for the park hopper option, so they will just plan around it.

Management has known to have been dead wrong many times for many things, so just because the suits decide this isn't increasing their bottom line doesn't mean it is so. Many times they make decisions purely on the $$$'s side and not looking at the overall picture.

 

[tonythetigerasn]

I think it's important to look at this from the perspective of the AVERAGE vacationer, not those who post about Disney on this site.

Personally, I think that the average vacationer will ultimately end up going back to his/her hotel on nights that Fantasmic isn't showing. First, I'm not even sure how many average vacationers have Park Hopper passes to begin with. If these people do have Park Hoppers, the removal of Fantasmic may just serve to FOCUS nighttime revenue to MK and Epcot on nights Fantasmic isn't playing. If they don't have Park Hoppers, DHS will see a decrease in attendance on non-Fantasmic nights, plain and simple.

In addition, if Fantasmic isn't playing, there isn't much reason to stay at DHS at all. Rather than see Wishes or Illuminations a second time on their trip (I doubt too many common tourists desire these things many times over one trip). If DHS remains open late, it's simply losing money with less people in that park.