Is Disney complacent , and back on its heels

[POLY LOVER]

Yes, but dozens of people comprise Walt's former job. The fact that WDW was at its prime in the nineties when they were breaking ground of all these things rather than setting them to autopilot is indicative that conglomeration shouldn't be much of a factor anyway

Remember this was Walts vision livelyhood his family legacy. The folks that run Disney at best are temporary custodians of his dream.
They will all be gone at some point and pass the torch to another CEO etc. What they do during their time is what will tell their story but they have a different master the stock holders who live for results and profits. They need to produce from quarter to quarter and show profits no matter what it takes to do. Walt had no one to answer too but his fans who watched his movies and visited his park. It was all about the Mouse as he said.

 

[DABIGCHEEZ]

My theory is that Disney now is so much more than theme parks with their venture into TV show, cable channels, print and so much more they are split between to many focuses. They can,t be as focused on just the parks as they used to be. Their attention has to be evenly spread among their interests. It's causing them to fight the war on to many fronts. In the old days Walt had one thing on his mind. The parks and his movies

Parks, movies, cruise ships, non-park resort, multiple television networks, consumer products, and video games > 2 things.

Yes, Disney now has more than Theme Parks. However, they all make plenty of profit on their own and based on the profits of each dept...money should be invested back into that dept. accordingly.

 

[POLY LOVER]

Y

Yes, Disney now has more than Theme Parks. However, they all make plenty of profit on their own and based on the profits of each dept...money should be invested back into that dept. accordingly.

that would be the wise way to do it

 

[STITCHGEFAN]

The simple answer is yes.

However, recent developments make me wonder if it is part of the masterplan.

It was going to be difficult for Disney to compete with Universal's development over the last 7-8 years, regardless of what they came up with. Instead, they've taken a long term strategy, and have things in place for AK (Avatar) HS (mass expansion) and MK (inevitable 50th anniversary) over the next 6 years.

The reality is that Universal can't keep expanding at the rate it is, purely due to space restrictions. Universal is still playing catch up, and even once they hit their peak when they utilise all the space, their popularity and attendances still won't surpass Disney. Once that time comes, Disney hits back with their new attractions and the crowds boost again, leaving Universal hung out to dry.

At the same point, the negligence has been poor. On one hand, Disney has only added very good attractions in their own right over this period (SDMT, TSM etc) with only LMA a real disappointment. On the other hand, Disney could have used this time to get rid of some of the deadwood with reasonable rides (Tomorrowland Speedway etc) which won't entice crowds to come in their own right, but make the parks' overall quality much higher. Epcot in particular has so much that could have been replaced or, heck, tweaked, to keep it relatively fresh. It is still the park I fear for the most.

 

[POLY LOVER]

The simple answer is yes.

However, recent developments make me wonder if it is part of the masterplan.

It was going to be difficult for Disney to compete with Universal's development over the last 7-8 years, regardless of what they came up with. Instead, they've taken a long term strategy, and have things in place for AK (Avatar) HS (mass expansion) and MK (inevitable 50th anniversary) over the next 6 years.

The reality is that Universal can't keep expanding at the rate it is, purely due to space restrictions. Universal is still playing catch up, and even once they hit their peak when they utilise all the space, their popularity and attendances still won't surpass Disney. Once that time comes, Disney hits back with their new attractions and the crowds boost again, leaving Universal hung out to dry.

At the same point, the negligence has been poor. On one hand, Disney has only added very good attractions in their own right over this period (SDMT, TSM etc) with only LMA a real disappointment. On the other hand, Disney could have used this time to get rid of some of the deadwood with reasonable rides (Tomorrowland Speedway etc) which won't entice crowds to come in their own right, but make the parks' overall quality much higher. Epcot in particular has so much that could have been replaced or, heck, tweaked, to keep it relatively fresh. It is still the park I fear for the most.

The speedway always has lines. No matter what age people want to drive cars.