Frozen complainers are finally making headlines.

[wdisney9000]

Successful as in everyone's going to want to ride it. There's going to be a ton of interest in a new experience especially considering that it's based on one of the most popular Disney movies (not to mention that it's one of the very few rides in World Showcase). Even the people that are against it will probably ride it unless they are completely and unreasonably stubborn lol.

None of those are valid enough reasons to shoehorn Frozen into Maelstrom.

However, they ARE valid reasons as to why Frozen deserves its own attraction, in Fantasyland.

 

[Cesar R M]

Wait, your saying that Disney is INTENTIONALLY building an attraction to have a long line, simply so it can be considered a success due to length of wait time? I'm sure you'll claim otherwise now that I've posed this question. I'd expect nothing less.

sounds like what they are doing with the deluxe rooms.. converting them to DVC and claiming "WE ARE FILLING ALL OUR ROOMS.. BEST IDEA EVER!"

 

[Cesar R M]

as decided to return cash to stockholders, I much prefer it be done via buybacks than dividends

Dont you mean "increasing the personal funds of Iger" ?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Fantasyland received very little in the realm of true additions in the "expansion". The project was more about repurposing and replaced preexisting attractions. The Mine Train replaced Snow White, and the previous show building is now being squandered on a meet and greet (this is not only a shameful and unfortunate waste of space where a ride could go, but meet and greets are horribly inefficient and low capacity). Little Mermaid is a very late replacement for 20k Leagues. And not a good replacement at that sadly, they squandered a perfect opportunity to create a fantastic ride with Mermaid, it's not a very popular ride with guests at all. The only real new attractions are meet and greets and restaurants.

Fantasyland is still in serious need of more rides, not just one but several (and NOT more spinners, more than enough of those). And 2-3 more rides would actually be a very conservative amount to start with. Not including spinner type attractions, Disneyland's Fantasyland has 10 rides. 12 if you count Toontown with Roger Rabbit and Gadget's Go Coaster. Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland has 5 (again not including spinners), 6 if you count Barnstormer. Either way you count that, Magic Kingdom comes up short by half. Like I said above, 2-3 extra rides would be extremely conservative and still well under Disneyland's count.

 

[marni1971]

Well they're valid if they're trying to bring more traffic or attention to Epcot or even just World Showcase itself. Maybe they want an increase in more popular rides for that park to please guests. Also, they just built so many new attractions in Fantasyland.

Then do it correctly with something that works for the location. They wouldn't build Mystic Manor in Tomorrowland.

It was two new attractions in Fantasyland btw. With a net gain of one. Hardly so many.

 

[Sped2424]

That built in interest is part of the problem. The attraction simply does not have the capacity to keep up. Even before the surge of last rides, Maelstrom was more than able to stay full. Long lines just make people upset and unpleasant, to the point that one lousy experience can ruin views of the entire park.

That's why this new ride is in for some serious issues. This is arguably one of the most popular properties they have now. And to give it to maelstrom which was a ride that the line went out the door if the wait was over 30 is not only baffling but so stupid. It's very clear whoever made this decision either has never been in epcot often or simply didn't care. The area just isn't meant to handle the popularity frozen will bring, hell it couldn't even handle a meet and greet.

 

[Sped2424]

Fantasyland received very little in the realm of true additions in the "expansion". The project was more about repurposing and replaced preexisting attractions. The Mine Train replaced Snow White, and the previous show building is now being squandered on a meet and greet (this is not only a shameful and unfortunate waste of space where a ride could go, but meet and greets are horribly inefficient and low capacity). Little Mermaid is a very late replacement for 20k Leagues. And not a good replacement at that sadly, they squandered a perfect opportunity to create a fantastic ride with Mermaid, it's not a very popular ride with guests at all. The only real new attractions are meet and greets and restaurants.

Fantasyland is still in serious need of more rides, not just one but several (and NOT more spinners, more than enough of those). And 2-3 more rides would actually be a very conservative amount to start with. Not including spinner type attractions, Disneyland's Fantasyland has 10 rides. 12 if you count Toontown with Roger Rabbit and Gadget's Go Coaster. Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland has 5 (again not including spinners), 6 if you count Barnstormer. Either way you count that, Magic Kingdom comes up short by half. Like I said above, 2-3 extra rides would be extremely conservative and still well under Disneyland's count.

New fantasyland needs a phase 3. Make the alice and wonderland section that was supposed to happen. give story book circus a dark ride, give alice a dark ride. Seriously just 2 more dark rides could do WONDERS for fantasyland and the park.

 

[david10225]

Isn't is possible that the new "Frozen" ride could open with Fast Pass + reservations and no stand by? Sort of like what they tested recently? That to me seems the only way to prevent continuous massive lines.

 

[marni1971]

Isn't is possible that the new "Frozen" ride could open with Fast Pass + reservations and no stand by? Sort of like what they tested recently? That to me seems the only way to prevent continuous massive lines.

Anything a possible but they wouldn't be that stupid.

 

[Kman101]

I swear as I was reading this thread (I'm still on page three or four, FYI), a Frozen Sing-Along Good Morning America. promo came on. They want to send you to WALT DISNEY WORLD. OMG.

Ugh. Let it go indeed.

So over all of this. I get it. I do. It's popular. At least things fade. It WILL fade in time. And Frozen fanatics, I don't want to hear about how it's amazing and people will worship it because it made so much money. I get it. However, people are really up in arms over a castle lighting show? "Evicting" Cinderella? Come on. The lighting show, which I actually like (and could move a tad faster, the biggest issue I have is way too much time wasted on introductions) isn't that big a deal IMO. I understand it's Cinderella's castle, but ... really?

 

[GoofGoof]

My comment actually had nothing to do about lines or wait times. You're going to have that with any new or popular attraction.

The problem isn't just that this ride will be new. Frozen is wildly popular. Anna and Elsa have insanely long meet and greet lines not seen for any other characters (3+ hours). Maelstrom was a naturally lower capacity ride. It's not an omni-mover or a people eater in any way. Even though the ride wasn't particularly popular, at busy times it still had lines due to capacity. When you combine insanely popular with low capacity in an area of EPCOT with only 1 other ride that is a recipe for potential disaster. The other issue is the ride is short (4 minutes at most). When you wait 60 minutes for Splash Mountain at least you get a ride experience that lasts over 10 minutes. Waiting in an insanely long line for a 4 minute ride isn't fun.

 

[Kman101]

It's a big issue I have with most rides. If I'm waiting an hour or more it better be more than a few minutes and you-know-the-word good.

 

[GoofGoof]

It's a big issue I have with most rides. If I'm waiting an hour or more it better be more than a few minutes and you-know-the-word good.

I think most rides with long waits at WDW are either pretty long or have a high level of thrill factor. Thrill rides by their natural are usually short. The exceptions are low capacity, but popular rides like Pan and TSMM. My fear is this Frozen thing will turn into EPCOT version of Peter Pan but with even longer waits. I still have to ride Pan every trip (it's a classic), but I plan ahead. I'm not waiting 45 minutes or an hour for a ride that short.

 

[prberk]

Anything a possible but they wouldn't be that stupid.

Umm, that is debatable sometimes. Think, the silliness around the FP+ only fiasco with the Be Our Guest restaurant, or the planning for it.

 

[prberk]

The problem isn't just that this ride will be new. Frozen is wildly popular. Anna and Elsa have insanely long meet and greet lines not seen for any other characters (3+ hours). Maelstrom was a naturally lower capacity ride. It's not an omni-mover or a people eater in any way. Even though the ride wasn't particularly popular, at busy times it still had lines due to capacity. When you combine insanely popular with low capacity in an area of EPCOT with only 1 other ride that is a recipe for potential disaster. The other issue is the ride is short (4 minutes at most). When you wait 60 minutes for Splash Mountain at least you get a ride experience that lasts over 10 minutes. Waiting in an insanely long line for a 4 minute ride isn't fun.

I still think that a Frozen ride should be a completely new dark ride, and at MK. Either replacing something around the storybook circus (not that important) or using the former 20,000 Leagues lagoon as the frozen lake around their town (with ships frozen in the port), and have the ride entrance be their castle, with the show building anywhere they can put it, even past the berm (like they did at DL for Indy's Adventure). They could rework some backstage parking or buildings to add it, much better than shoehorning it into Maelstrom.

As for EPCOT, allocate some budget to renovate the attractions there in a good way, and even add a country (Spain or Brazil, as have been mentioned before), and start using it as a backdrop for a Discovery-type TV show that features science, nature, and innovations. Get all four parks firing on all of their distinctive cylinders again, and let TV whet our appetites for them.

 

[lazyboy97o]

My comment actually had nothing to do about lines or wait times. You're going to have that with any new or popular attraction. Based on your previous posts it's evident that you both read way too into things and overthink everything so "I'd expect nothing less."


Well they're valid if they're trying to bring more traffic or attention to Epcot or even just World Showcase itself. Maybe they want an increase in more popular rides for that park to please guests. Also, they just built so many new attractions in Fantasyland.

How is traffic a valid reason to negate theme? And does that justification not just bring you into the problems I mention that you claim are irrelevant?

 

[MichWolv]

A stock repurchase reduces the number of outstanding shares, improving EPS, thereby supporting a higher stock price.

A dividend returns capital directly to shareholders which, if they choose, can be used to purchase additional stock. A dividend provides just as much of "a choice about whether to cash out or not". The difference is with a repurchase, shareholders must actively chose to "opt out" (i.e. sell stock) versus a dividend, which requires shareholders to actively "opt in" (i.e. purchase more stock).

Neither one generates revenue or profits. Neither grows the company. Neither invests in the future.

Let's not fool ourselves. Disney executives own a tiny fraction of outstanding shares. A cash dividend benefits them very little. Disney executives prefer to repurchase stock because executive compensation is heavily tied to stock price and EPS, both of which are easily manipulated through stock repurchases.

No fooling at all. I simply disagree, as we have discussed before. Manipulation of stock prices through repurchases is not easy or sustainable. As for EPS, if a stock repurchase improves EPS, that is because the cash used to repurchase the shares was not being used as efficiently by the company as other assets. While I might believe that better uses of the cash were available, the fact that the buyback increases EPS isn't manipulation -- it's substance.

 

[MichWolv]

Dont you mean "increasing the personal funds of Iger" ?

I certainly don't mean that, because it's not even a complete thought.

 

[xdan0920]

Stop the presses guys. Disney has FINALLY listened to reason and decided to incorporate something from Frozen into their huge resort. I mean, it's amazing that a film this popular had to wait this long to get something Frozen into their parks and resorts. Maybe now they'll finally consider adding other Frozen things.

I don't know about you guys, but when I think Contemporary Resort, I think Frozen.

Thematically synergistic.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I still think that a Frozen ride should be a completely new dark ride, and at MK. Either replacing something around the storybook circus (not that important) or using the former 20,000 Leagues lagoon as the frozen lake around their town (with ships frozen in the port), and have the ride entrance be their castle, with the show building anywhere they can put it, even past the berm (like they did at DL for Indy's Adventure). They could rework some backstage parking or buildings to add it, much better than shoehorning it into Maelstrom.

As for EPCOT, allocate some budget to renovate the attractions there in a good way, and even add a country (Spain or Brazil, as have been mentioned before), and start using it as a backdrop for a Discovery-type TV show that features science, nature, and innovations. Get all four parks firing on all of their distinctive cylinders again, and let TV whet our appetites for them.

Just curious... how long has it been since you have been to WDW? The lagoon for 20K has been gone for, at the very least, 5 years now.