How badly Leave a Legacy failed!

[mousermerf]

Came across this tidbit as a "tip" at disneyworld.com:

The Leave a Legacy sculpture located near the main entrance of Epcot® features 30 sculptured granite monoliths which will accommodate nearly 750,000 images of guests etched on metallic tiles.

Okay.. now let's look at the press information from Legacy's closure...

The Leave A Legacy program, first launched at Epcot in Fall 1999, has been discontinued as of June 16, 2007. The current display of more than 550,000 tiles at the main entrance of Epcot will remain for the time being. The Leave A Legacy Locator station will be relocated to the Camera Center underneath Spaceship Earth. If you need to get information about your Leave A Legacy tile from home, contact the following email address: WDW.EC.legacy@disney.com

750,000 - 550,000 = 200,000 unfilled tiles

That's ~26% of the original total. Nearly 8 years and the thing is under 3/4 of the way full.

They would of had to sell them for atleast 2 more years assuming the rate of sale was steady from start to finish. Far more likely then the needed ~256 sales a day, with how unbusy the kiosks had become, they were looking at several years, 4 or maybe 5.

What a complete and utter failure.

 

[Kman101]

Maybe it would of worked better had the setup been a little less ugly. Those tombstones are horrible and very distracting.

 

[kadesha]

I hate them. They are ugly. I made my first trip to Epcot recently and found myself lost amongst the tombstones. I couldn't believe that they had such an eyesore at the enterance! :hurl:

 

[darthjohnny]

Came across this tidbit as a "tip" at disneyworld.com:



Okay.. now let's look at the press information from Legacy's closure...


750,000 - 550,000 = 200,000 unfilled tiles

That's ~26% of the original total. Nearly 8 years and the thing is under 3/4 of the way full.

They would of had to sell them for atleast 2 more years assuming the rate of sale was steady from start to finish. Far more likely then the needed ~256 sales a day, with how unbusy the kiosks had become, they were looking at several years, 4 or maybe 5.

What a complete and utter failure.

It isn't a failure, despite your point of view.

The reason it isn't filled yet is because there is so much space as you mentioned.

If they sold 750,000 stones in front of the Magic Kingdom, it would have taken a long time to fill all those up too.

 

[cabihler]

we sort of liked it

my daughter and I were in the group of the first 1000 to get our picture done so whenever we enter the park now nearly 8 years later our picture is on the first stone as you walk in. i tend to agree that the layout could have been better but i would hope that they would never alter it now that it is there. sometimes when you commit to something you need to standup and just keep your word. is it pretty? not especially but it is a bond and if it is there for 50 years then my great-grandchildren can see me and their mom and it is why i liked it over the stone steps over at MK...
thanks Chris

 

[Hakunamatata]

Not a failure in my opinion. What was to be my moms last trip to WDW was not possible for health reasons that she ultimately died from. I have a tribute tile to her at Leave a Legacy. Definately not a failure.

 

[TestTrack]

Depends on how much those 'stones cost. I don't remember how much it cost to do leave a legacy but I will hazard a guess at $30(might be thinking too cheap here)

However, 30*550,000 = a cool $16.5 Mill...doesn't seem too much of a failure from that standpoint.

Now how to get rid of these 'stones without ing the 550,000 people off.

:ROFLOL:

 

[Hakunamatata]

Depends on how much those 'stones cost. I don't remember how much it cost to do leave a legacy but I will hazard a guess at $30(might be thinking too cheap here)

However, 30*550,000 = a cool $16.5 Mill...doesn't seem too much of a failure from that standpoint.

Now how to get rid of these 'stones without ing the 550,000 people off.

:ROFLOL:

It was my understanding that after the original display, that they would then be displayed in other areas of the park. I believe there was a 20 year guarantee that they would be displayed in the park.

 

[jt04]

It was my understanding that after the original display, that they would then be displayed in other areas of the park. I believe there was a 20 year guarantee that they would be displayed in the park.

Would an artificial reef at the Seas count as "being displayed in other areas of the park?"

 

[unkadug]

...The current display of more than 550,000 tiles at the main entrance of Epcot will remain for the time being...

I like that part!

There IS a glimmer of hope that they will eventually go away completely! :sohappy:

 

[Hakunamatata]

Would an artificial reef at the Seas count as "being displayed in other areas of the park?"

What was to be my moms last trip to WDW was not possible for health reasons that she ultimately died from. I have a tribute tile to her at Leave a Legacy.

 

[jt04]

Oops, I missed that , sorry

 

[ImaYoyo]

I agree with the below post. Exactly how is it that selling half a million tiles at 20 bucks a pop is a failure? Just curious... Then again, if the OP is Lebron James and making 25 million dollars per advertisement/endorsement, ok, I can see how 10-20 million might be a "failure"...

Depends on how much those 'stones cost. I don't remember how much it cost to do leave a legacy but I will hazard a guess at $30(might be thinking too cheap here)

However, 30*550,000 = a cool $16.5 Mill...doesn't seem too much of a failure from that standpoint.

Now how to get rid of these 'stones without ing the 550,000 people off.

:ROFLOL:

 

[Epcot82Guy]

We have to be understanding here. Ever CP person and most CMs get an opportunity to do a tile for free, and they were included as gifts. So, a good chunk of those 550,000 were free (and still cost production). I would say a more realistic view is that about 350,000 tiles were sold at about $5-10 profit (after you take out costs of construction, creation of the area, maintenance and staffing for 8 years). That is still a good profit margin, but I would firmly argue that the profitability of the early days is LONG gone, and it was starting to lose cash.

I do hope they keep the tiles, but I hope we get at least a design update. I really don't like how the tiles relate to the tombstones, and the empty stones just look bad. Now that they have a set number, they could work with a specific amount of panels necessary.

 

[WDWFigment]

I don't think threads about Leave a Legacy are going to amount to a whole lot of cordial feelings on these boards. It's quite a divisive topic; there are about 550,000 families who see the stones with the personal ties and memories that these stones have for them. These people are not going to view it this subject as a matter-of-fact certainty that these stones are ugly and out of place in EPCOT (or any Disney park for that matter).

Then there is the other side that did not purchase the stones, and looks at them objectively--as the out of place eyesores that they are. These two groups are not likely to hold the same views on the subject, as the former group might view the latter's objections to the stones, and desire to remove them, as analogous to wanting to desecrate a tombstone.

Maybe we all need to look at this objectively (after all, I shouldn't expect to change people's opinions about an attraction that needs to be refurbed because the current incarnation was my dead Grandma's favorite) so it doesn't turn into a seemingly personal attack. I think EPCOT overall is more about being a beautiful Disney park than being a memorial, after all.

 

[CThaddeus]

Depends on how much those 'stones cost. I don't remember how much it cost to do leave a legacy but I will hazard a guess at $30(might be thinking too cheap here)

However, 30*550,000 = a cool $16.5 Mill...doesn't seem too much of a failure from that standpoint.

Now how to get rid of these 'stones without ing the 550,000 people off.

:ROFLOL:

You're assuming people actually paid for all of them. I've been reading on other threads that many people have received them FREE as part of some package or another when booking their Disney trips. If they have to give them away, that doesn't exactly indicate success to me. Then you also have to factor in the cost of upkeep and maintenance, staffing the Leave a Legacy kiosks, and plaque costs. I'm sure they did make money off of it, but was it a success? I think if they had sold out of spaces (and not given them away) and had had to put in more, then perhaps. I could be wrong, though.

ed: You beat me to it, Epcot82guy! One other point I'd like to make about its success is a personal one. I am a huge Disney geek. I have a brick at Disneyland and would love to have one at Disney World. I buy anything I can afford that has anything to do with the Disney Parks, and I even keep articles and pictures from newspapers. So, if they couldn't even get me to want to buy one of those things at a measly $35, then from my viewpoint, it was a MASSIVE failure. Again, this is a personal opinion and I know others don't feel this way.

 

[Epcot82Guy]

Maybe we all need to look at this objectively (after all, I shouldn't expect to change people's opinions about an attraction that needs to be refurbed because the current incarnation was my dead Grandma's favorite) so it doesn't turn into a seemingly personal attack. I think EPCOT overall is more about being a beautiful Disney park than being a memorial, after all.

I think this is a good point, but I think it is more in semantics than anything. It seems (and anyone who paid for a tile, please correct me) that those with a LaL have attachment to the presence of the tile and the actual picture itself. It is not that they are attached to giant, dark brown slabs of granite. For the rest of us, I think the tiles are just fine. I still am disappointed the walk around the world was never finished, and this is Epcot's mini version. I really don't like the physical stones, and it seems that is what people are describing.

I would think a modern, more integrated design inside or just outside the entry gates to display the panels of pictures would serve everyone's purpose (and may even sell more tiles).

 

[Hakunamatata]

Oops, I missed that , sorry

No problem. I probably should have used a instead of .

 

[primetime52]

On my last visit to Epcot I got a good laugh near the tombstones. I had just walked in to the park and there was a family walking near me. They must have been either WDW first timers, or visiting for the first time since LAL started.

The young daughter looks at the tombstones and says "Daddy what are those?" The father replies by saying "I think it's a war memorial."

 

[Enigma]

They are ugly...please remove them Disney!