Lights of Winter not being displayed this year (2009)!?!

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Go see Disneyland or Disneyland Paris at Christmas. Both of those parks are gorgeous at Christmas!

 

[CDavid]

Go see Disneyland or Disneyland Paris at Christmas. Both of those parks are gorgeous at Christmas!

I'm sure they are, but Epcot could be absolutely stunning for Christmas, and should be. It is especially sad when you realize that pinching pennies is the only thing standing in the way; We're not talking about spending tens of millions of dollars to step up the decorations and restore the Lights of Winter. The cost is reasonable.

 

[George]

Agree with this. Lack of storage is, quite frankly, a lame answer. There is no constraint (legal, physical, practical, contractual, or otherwise) on how much storage space is devoted to holiday decorations.

Disney has decided that the costs of buying, storing and displaying the decorations doesn't produce a great enough return to justify the investment. That's fine...a business decision. But to say "we ran out of storage space" as if getting more storage space is actually difficult in some way is just silly.

Bob Iger, "We'll start decorating EPCOT again if you people will chip in and stuff our stockings with Lowe's gift cards. The deals they have on storage sheds in January are stupendous!"

 

[wm49rs]

Bob Iger, "We'll start decorating EPCOT again if you people will chip in and stuff our stockings with Lowe's gift cards. The deals they have on storage sheds in January are stupendous!"

"We'll chip in more if you assemble the sheds for us!"

 

[MarkTwain]

If it's of any interest here, I got to talk privately to a manager involved in the Lights of Wonder fiasco and heard their take on it. They basically said the arches were in bad need of an upgrade and Disney wanted to switch them to an LED light system. When they went to a third party supplier, the price they offered was exorbitant and Disney felt like they were deliberately over-charging for them, as they felt Disney would pay it. Disney instead went ahead and retired the arches as a result.

Seems strange to me why they couldn't find a different supplier. Not a lot of news here but thought I'd share.

 

[willtravel]

I went on the Yuletide Fantasy tour last Wednesday where they take everyone to Holiday Services, the department that is responsible for the decorating. Someone asked a question similar to this- why does it seem that there are less decorations in recent years than in years past. The answer was 2 fold- sometimes technology becomes to expensive to replace (didn't confirm, but probably relating to the Lights of Winter) and they have run out of storage room for everything. There is an 80k sq ft warehouse and a few semis that store all of the decor (for all 4 theme parks, all golf courses and hotels, 1 water park, Vero Beach, Hilton Hea, 4 cruise ships, the terminal and Castaway Cay). Unfortuantely, they don't have room to store everything and add when more locations are added so they repurpose it and spread it out (vs the days where there were a few hotels and 2 theme parks). Coming off the Disney Dream this week I can tell you there are a great deal of decorations there and on the island. While it may not be an accurate reason, it sure makes sense when you see everything that a lot of parks and other locations have to offer.

Can always store in in the ex Wonder of Life Pavilion.

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

I went on the Yuletide Fantasy tour last Wednesday where they take everyone to Holiday Services, the department that is responsible for the decorating. Someone asked a question similar to this- why does it seem that there are less decorations in recent years than in years past. The answer was 2 fold- sometimes technology becomes to expensive to replace (didn't confirm, but probably relating to the Lights of Winter) and they have run out of storage room for everything. There is an 80k sq ft warehouse and a few semis that store all of the decor (for all 4 theme parks, all golf courses and hotels, 1 water park, Vero Beach, Hilton Hea, 4 cruise ships, the terminal and Castaway Cay). Unfortuantely, they don't have room to store everything and add when more locations are added so they repurpose it and spread it out (vs the days where there were a few hotels and 2 theme parks). Coming off the Disney Dream this week I can tell you there are a great deal of decorations there and on the island. While it may not be an accurate reason, it sure makes sense when you see everything that a lot of parks and other locations have to offer.

If it's of any interest here, I got to talk privately to a manager involved in the Lights of Wonder fiasco and heard their take on it. They basically said the arches were in bad need of an upgrade and Disney wanted to switch them to an LED light system. When they went to a third party supplier, the price they offered was exorbitant and Disney felt like they were deliberately over-charging for them, as they felt Disney would pay it. Disney instead went ahead and retired the arches as a result.

Seems strange to me why they couldn't find a different supplier. Not a lot of news here but thought I'd share.

If these reasons are actually true, they are some of the laziest, most pathetic excuses imaginable to explain the current holiday offerings at WDW.

Lack of storage space? Get a POD for crying out loud! Or how about storing it in some of the empty show buildings all over the parks? Between Wonders of Life, half of Innoventions, the upstairs of the Imagination pavilion, the backside of Germany and World Showplace, Epcot alone probably has the equivalent of an entire warehouse worth of space.

And scrap the Lights of Winter because the initial quote was too high? Its called negotiating! Or go find another vendor. Or, you know, maybe do it yourself? But I guess I'm confusing today's timeshare and real estate Disney with the innovative and creative Disney of the past.

Honestly, its no wonder MyMagic+/FP+ is a complete mess if these brilliant excuses are any indication.

 

[Nemo14]

If these reasons are actually true, they are some of the laziest, most pathetic excuses imaginable to explain the current holiday offerings at WDW.

Lack of storage space? Get a POD for crying out loud! Or how about storing it in some of the empty show buildings all over the parks? Between Wonders of Life, half of Innoventions, the upstairs of the Imagination pavilion, the backside of Germany and World Showplace, Epcot alone probably has the equivalent of an entire warehouse worth of space.

And scrap the Lights of Winter because the initial quote was too high? Its called negotiating! Or go find another vendor. Or, you know, maybe do it yourself? But I guess I'm confusing today's timeshare and real estate Disney with the innovative and creative Disney of the past.

Honestly, its no wonder MyMagic+/FP+ is a complete mess if these brilliant excuses are any indication.

Just remember this when you're plopping down close to $100 per day to visit.

 

[George]

O'Hare puts EPCOT to shame -

 

[Nemo14]

So does Dollywood!

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

Just remember this when you're plopping down close to $100 per day to visit.

Can't see myself doing that for years to come. Probably will go to Universal once Potter phase 2 opens, though.

 

[wdwmagic]

And scrap the Lights of Winter because the initial quote was too high? Its called negotiating! Or go find another vendor. Or, you know, maybe do it yourself? But I guess I'm confusing today's timeshare and real estate Disney with the innovative and creative Disney of the past.

Honestly, its no wonder MyMagic+/FP+ is a complete mess if these brilliant excuses are any indication.

You would think that a company who has just installed over 5 million LEDs at the Studios, and has 200,000 on a big castle has some contacts in the LED world. I'm sure there would be no issue securing a competitive price.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

But its the cost of frames, wood just doesnt grow on trees

 

[CDavid]

If these reasons are actually true, they are some of the laziest, most pathetic excuses imaginable to explain the current holiday offerings at WDW.

Lack of storage space? Get a POD for crying out loud! Or how about storing it in some of the empty show buildings all over the parks? Between Wonders of Life, half of Innoventions, the upstairs of the Imagination pavilion, the backside of Germany and World Showplace, Epcot alone probably has the equivalent of an entire warehouse worth of space.

And scrap the Lights of Winter because the initial quote was too high? Its called negotiating! Or go find another vendor. Or, you know, maybe do it yourself? But I guess I'm confusing today's timeshare and real estate Disney with the innovative and creative Disney of the past.

Honestly, its no wonder MyMagic+/FP+ is a complete mess if these brilliant excuses are any indication.

Both are just excuses, nothing more. Oh, the storage spaces reserved for decorations may well be full, but its easy to get more space. By any reasonable standard for any normal company, that's just part of everyday business.

And they may have actually got a bid to upgrade the lights, but it exceeded the allocated budget. That happens sometimes too, and you either increase the budget or put off/scale back the upgrades, but it's hardly a reason to just abandon something. Except at Disney, where you scrap lights and even a parade (and a parade that cost millions...) because they would cost too much to fix.

 

[wm49rs]

You would think that a company who has just installed over 5 million LEDs at the Studios, and has 200,000 on a big castle has some contacts in the LED world. I'm sure there would be no issue securing a competitive price.

Especially by throwing in some guarantees towards future and maintenance work....

 

[John]

This all goes back to dollars vs value. I have said it before....and will say it again. If Disney gave me the most incredible experience ever, Impeccable service and top notch food I would pay. I would pay dearly. Maybe I would have to cut back my length of visit, but I would pay. Now I will just cut my length of visit anyway and spend my money else where. I know they don't care.....obviously. But I do.

 

[John]

If I could bring back the service and the experience from the day AK was opened to today. I would probably pay double the price of a park ticket.

 

[willtravel]

If these reasons are actually true, they are some of the laziest, most pathetic excuses imaginable to explain the current holiday offerings at WDW.

Lack of storage space? Get a POD for crying out loud! Or how about storing it in some of the empty show buildings all over the parks? Between Wonders of Life, half of Innoventions, the upstairs of the Imagination pavilion, the backside of Germany and World Showplace, Epcot alone probably has the equivalent of an entire warehouse worth of space.

And scrap the Lights of Winter because the initial quote was too high? Its called negotiating! Or go find another vendor. Or, you know, maybe do it yourself? But I guess I'm confusing today's timeshare and real estate Disney with the innovative and creative Disney of the past.

Honestly, its no wonder MyMagic+/FP+ is a complete mess if these brilliant excuses are any indication.

Like post 100 times. I went to WDW in 98, that was enough for me. Can see as good if not better around home and vicinity and cheaper to visit. WDW is still running on reputation or people don't know any better (first timers) and don't realize the changes that have happened over the years. IMO.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

If I could bring back the service and the experience from the day AK was opened to today. I would probably pay double the price of a park ticket.

Whoo hoa steady on with this rash spending of money. Besides I thought we were paying double the price since opening

 

[George]

If I could bring back the service and the experience from the day AK was opened to today. I would probably pay double the price of a park ticket.

We always talk of money, but in reality, more is at work in things like this. The word is PRIDE. It helps the brand and everything in the long-term if you provide a top notch experience. However, WDW only operates like that way sporadically any more. Everyone should want the parks to kick so much visual butt in Christmas that shelling out 100K for some top notch Christmas decorations isn't a deal breaker. The fact that I can point out various airports are better decorated than a Disney theme park and not get laughed at should be cause for concern.