Once again, let me explain how this works:
TWDC has $300 million to spend. They have a choice to make (and don't argue that each division has their own budget. Green-lighting projects on this scale are decisions made at the top). TWDC's choice is this: They can either build a new E-Ticket for DAK or finance a PoTC 5 (movie).
The E-Ticket will bring in anywhere from 10-20% greater attendance per annum and maybe -- maybe -- $100 million in ticket sales over 5 years.
or
The movie will bring in $500 million at the B.O. in six months plus $150 million in video sales, syndication rights, merchandising AND curiosity to the PoTC attractions, which will in turn spike attendance at the Disney theme parks.
Now, you're sitting in CEO's chair and you have a choice to make:
A) Movie with immediate payoff or E-Ticket with slow return factor?
B) Cruise ship which pays for itself in the first 36 months or an E-Ticket that will take the better part of a decade?
C) A new park in a burgeoning country with the world's largest population, or a little old E-Ticket to satisfy the disgruntled armchair Imagineers?
There is a correct answer here, folks, and it's not the E-Ticket. I'm like many of you. I can envision a thousand wondrous lands, rides, shows, etc. in a massive Grand Re-Opening redux of WDW. But it's not an intelligent business decision for a company that has so many other aspects to consider that most of you, for whatever reason, are choosing to ignore. You may spend hours a day on this discussion board typing out your wanton fantasies. TWDC has a few more things to worry about than renovating WoL or UoE. And if their nonchalance offends you, there are several lesser amusement attempts right up the I-4. Go. Please. TWDC won't miss you. Their numbers prove it.
Your argument is about decisions at a higher level of the company than I believe most of us are concerned with.
As a whole, I believe most of us are happy with what TWDC has been doing.
You need to be thinking a level below what you're arguing about. You're right that TDO probably doesn't have a say in large project like the FL expansion. Which, by the way, is probably good... Chances are it wouldn't have happened otherwise.
My problem, which is probably shared by others here, isn't that they need to be loading up every park with an E-ticket, as you seem to assume (which shows me you really don't pay attention to what many people here actually say). My problem is that TDO seems to have begun, a number of years ago now, to live by a balancing act of just barely doing enough to keep the crowds there, as opposed to exceeding expectations as they had for so long. It's gotten to the point where the only way they've been able to keep bookings at the level they desire is to discount the heck out of trips for the general public. The fiscal reports a couple quarters ago clearly showed that (I didn't really see last quarter's).
TDO treats WDW like the goose that layed the golden egg. They bleed it (and their customers) for every last penny, only putting back into it the bare minimum as far as updates and upkeep. They seem to live by the motto "if the casual guest won't notice, then don't do it". Magnifying the problem is the resort on the West Coast. DL doesn't just do the bare minimum. DL exceeds. And I'm not even talking about the DCA stuff... That came from the top. I'm talking about how TDA treats the resort. And argue if you like that they MUST do this kind of thing because it's a largely local clientele... But that's unimportant to me. It still comes down to seeing how things SHOULD be run, vs. what we get at WDW. Go visit any other Disney park in the world (as I have), and it only magnifies it even more.
Now... I don't hate WDW. I still take my family there. Because they still get a lot right. But the fact of the matter is, they've been resting on their laurels, weighing the golden eggs from the goose, and using those eggs to fund everything else, while not taking care of the goose. And while they've been doing that, they've allowed the opposition up I-4 to close the gap. And for whatever reason, that doesn't seem to phase them... At least not that we've seen thus far. That's scary.
It's not all "doom and gloom"
rolleyes
though. I think the new ques are fine, as an example. But there's a TON that DOES signify a real problem:
The yeti
F! cutbacks
Space Mountain failed refurb
Large pyro shell cutbacks
Needing deep discounts to keep crowds (which Iger himself said was a huge problem)
The imagination pavillion and what it's become
Prime real-estate in MK stuttered with no replacement
Countless effects left broken on countless attractions
SSE descent
Merch homogination
DDP and its effect on menus
DDP value cutback
Those are just off the top of my head. I'm sure others could make that list a LOT longer. But notice, if you would... None of what I listed above says anything about needing an E-ticket. None of what I listed above requires approval from a level like you suggest. All of what's listed above is squarely on the shoulders of TDO.
