No New Nightastic According to Al Lutz

[lebeau]

According to Al Lutz, WDW has passed on another year of Nightastic!

Link: http://miceage.micechat.com/allutz/al051011a.htm

Exerpt:

"The Walt Disney World executives decided earlier this year to not invest in a second summer of Nightastic! extra-cost entertainment, as they are going to dog the fizzling Memories campaign for all its worth out in Florida instead."

Lutz also goes into great detail about Star Tours 2.0 if anyone's interested in that.

 

[disney4life2008]

I applaud DLR. I understand the resort struggled during the 1990s but during the last 10 years - they have gotten a complete new infrastructure. However, as a WDW lover, I am quite dissapointed. While WDW has received the AK in the last 15 years - there have been no major changes (I guess Fantayland would be the one).

What exactly is Meg Crofton and Team Disney doing in Orlando????

 

[menamechris]

HAHA! They are going to "dog" the memories campaign in FL? They are not doing anything above and beyond...

 

[menamechris]

What exactly is Meg Crofton and Team Disney doing in Orlando????

Collecting hefty paychecks to ride the wave....

 

[disney4life2008]

And the Memories campaign... while I like the campaign - It is quite boring!!! Disney needs to hire WDWMAGIC people at least we would know what to do!:ROFLOL:

 

[DisneyNut2007]

Lebeau, I thought you knew better than to quote that idiot Al Lutz.

Threads like these, shall we say, attract "insects" (ie: those who don't know TDO and Meg Crofton and need to stop picking on them starting this instant).

 

[NMBC1993]

To quote Chairman L.C. Clench "Profit is simply a byproduct we've learned to live with":wave:

 

[MightyGitis]

The Year of a Million Dreams campaign was so great that the Memories one really didn't live up to the standard they had created. Don't get me wrong, I loved my Birthday button when I went, but you get tired of every guest telling you Happy Birthday. Eventually I put it in my purse to stop it from happening constantly.

 

[aladdin2007]

If they were smart they would have done a 40 Years of Memories campaign instead, but no this would be too much money to do a new parade and do something memorable, cant open the TDO bank unless its for more and more DVC's.

 

[DisneyJoe]

cant open the TDO bank unless its for more and more DVC's.

TDO doesn't pay for new DVC's....

 

[NoChesterHester]

According to Al Lutz, WDW has passed on another year of Nightastic!

Link: http://miceage.micechat.com/allutz/al051011a.htm

Exerpt:

"The Walt Disney World executives decided earlier this year to not invest in a second summer of Nightastic! extra-cost entertainment, as they are going to dog the fizzling Memories campaign for all its worth out in Florida instead."

Lutz also goes into great detail about Star Tours 2.0 if anyone's interested in that.

Al always takes a negative view on the parks in Orlando. I take it with a grain of salt. He wrote an article early on that Disneyland was getting a more extensive Star Tours refurb and would have more ride elements updated then WDW. I believe from early reports the experiences are near identical.

If Disney would have done Nightastic again this year people would come on to complain about how they were recycling marketing promotions and not offering anything new.

Folks that feel that WDW is resting on it's laurels right now have short memories. The end of the Eisner era (and the beginning of the Iger years) saw major neglect in the parks and a drought of updates and creative ideas. We are witnessing a park wide systematic plussing of favorites and refurbs of attractions that badly needed it. There are a ton of capital improvements going on.

On to the next thing...

 

[wizards8507]

Now it's time to wipe out the scars of Nightastic and bring back Spectro.

 

[puntagordabob]

Sad that there is not another Nightastic...but I also agree that WDW is starting to move in a Better Direction (Tiki Room, Fantasyland,Star Tours 2, all the refurbs, etc).... and under normal times that would be a THUMBS UP!

That being said.... Universal down the road is really ramping up their game (and I have not spent a penny there since 2001 so Im not a Uni-Fanboy or anything) which is starting to make the moves at WDW look Underwhelming (except for the Tiki Room ---> Best Change EVER....Yeah I AM a Tiki Room Fanboy and proud of it hehe so Slap me hehe) .... I think to "Joe Public" the Potterland is a heck of a lot more appealing than a new Fantasyland (especially the original Princess/fairies-centric concept, the new one is clearly a lot better imho....but still versus Pottterland it looks tame at the moment to "Joe Public")......

What will this mean to us hardcore WDW Fans (espeically us Locals)???? Maybe that TDO will take the Gloves off and start trying to take back the sparkle in "Joe Public's eye again.....which for us all would mean very good things happening to WDW I suspect!

So while I love Disney at my core I am going to still cheer "GO Universal!" today!

 

[menamechris]

If Disney would have done Nightastic again this year people would come on to complain about how they were recycling marketing promotions and not offering anything new.

I totally wouldn't have. No more than I would say that the Christmas and holiday festivities are a recycled marketing promotion. I would never knock seasonal celebrations to switch things up and give guests something to look forward to throughout the year.

Folks that feel that WDW is resting on it's laurels right now have short memories. The end of the Eisner era (and the beginning of the Iger years) saw major neglect in the parks and a drought of updates and creative ideas. We are witnessing a park wide systematic plussing of favorites and refurbs of attractions that badly needed it. There are a ton of capital improvements going on.

You are right - and while we should be ecstatic about the new interactive elements being added to attraction lines, and a few refurbishments at WDW, overall in the grand scheme of things, they are not all that exciting (I will exclude HM from that generalization). They are exciting in theory, and offer nice little "extras" throughout the park, but in reality, there is no real reason to be anticipating your next WDW trip for them.

 

[puntagordabob]

Now it's time to wipe out the scars of Nightastic and bring back Spectro.

Don't start bashing on my favorite Parade (MSEP) now! I still think TDO should keep them both...run em both.... cuz there is enough love for both!

 

[WDWFigment]

Al always takes a negative view on the parks in Orlando. I take it with a grain of salt. He wrote an article early on that Disneyland was getting a more extensive Star Tours refurb and would have more ride elements updated then WDW. I believe from early reports the experiences are near identical.

If Disney would have done Nightastic again this year people would come on to complain about how they were recycling marketing promotions and not offering anything new.

Folks that feel that WDW is resting on it's laurels right now have short memories. The end of the Eisner era (and the beginning of the Iger years) saw major neglect in the parks and a drought of updates and creative ideas. We are witnessing a park wide systematic plussing of favorites and refurbs of attractions that badly needed it. There are a ton of capital improvements going on.

On to the next thing...

While I agree with you that WDW is starting to the turn the corner slowly, I think if you look at everything coming to DLR this summer, it's quite easy to then look at WDW and be a bit disappointed.

It shouldn't be a matter of "but Star Tours 2.0 is coming and FLE comes in 2013." Disneyland certainly isn't resting on Carsland (and a whole slew of other attractions) coming in 2012. It's making improvements now.

 

[janoimagine]

Al always takes a negative view on the parks in Orlando.

We are witnessing a park wide systematic plussing of favorites and refurbs of attractions that badly needed it. There are a ton of capital improvements going on.

On to the next thing...

To part one of your post, while Al may have a negative POV to WDW, but he hit's the nail on the head almost every time concerning the suits in Orlando ... TDO is lazy and will only do something new if they are forced too.

Regarding the second half, they are adding a nothing more than a promotion for the new Pirates movie while just around the corner the lift hill on BTMRR has had a black trap covering it's show pieces for a couple years now.

They added an interactive que that while it does look great to the Haunted Mansion, but meanwhile PPF is falling apart and has been for a while. They took the easy way out on a Space Mountain re-hab, and over at Animal Kingdom, you have two headlining attractions with there main AA's that don't function properly, one which hasn't run right since 6 months after the attraction opened.

Its like a bad sleight of hand trick that TDO tries to play with the consumer. I for one am glad that someone with some exposure and clout has the balls to call them out on it, and kudos to TDA for realizing that they needed to try something different, and got the money to change it. I wish some of them would transfer to TDO.

They could start by getting rid of Meg 'Useless' Crofton.

 

[menamechris]

It shouldn't be a matter of "but Star Tours 2.0 is coming and FLE comes in 2013." Disneyland certainly isn't resting on Carsland (and a whole slew of other attractions) coming in 2012. It's making improvements now.

This is exactly the point. I feel that WDW is in the same position that DL was years ago. The current management takes a "buck before guest" approach to most everything. Improvements and additions are only made if TDO are specifically told they must (FLE), special promotions and events are only held if they are forced (Nightastic last year), and anything added that enhances the park experience is yours if you are willing to take out a second mortgage (i.e. Wild Africa Trek).

 

[Jakester]

All id want from Summer Nightastic would be the Fireworks. TDO needs to step their game up though and stop being lazy and taking the cheap route. Im still hoping that something happens for the 40th (Hopefully this memories campaign leads to a 40years of memories for wdw). The only good thing to come out of the Memories campaign is the projection show (which i hope sticks around for a while). Its been 10years since a new day parade in Magic Kingdom (I honestly though do like MSEP). They need to really step their game up, Universal has, if all Meg Crofton cares about is a paycheck, kick her out and get someone who thinks like Walt did in there

 

[Ignohippo]

It's ridiculous.

I've been sitting back and resisting commenting because it's just too easy. I wanted to try to look at things differently and give them the benefit of the doubt. In the end, this just comes down to being cheap. They could easily still do the Memories Castle Lights and then do Summer Nightastic. That's a lame excuse.

I'm sure TDO sits back and thinks that no one makes their vacation plans based on a fireworks show. What they don't realize is that cutting the corners every time makes it easier and easier for Annual Passholders (like me) to make the decision to not renew. After being Passholders for the last five years, my wife is becoming more and more bored with the parks, my son is getting tired of the drive, and I've become the last person holding on. I can only imagine there a many, many more families out there like us.

As insignificant as it may seem to TDO, a different fireworks show gives us one more reason to visit and one more reason to get an Annual Pass. We really enjoyed Nightastic last year and we were looking forward to it again this year.

TDO is making it way too easy for us to save our $1500 when our passes come due. The FLE is great, but my son's favorite park is DHS. With nothing new besides TSMM (and waits of an hour plus) and an upgraded ST, there just doesn't give us enough reason to go. You'd think the enormous lines would give TDO the clue that their parks are severely lacking in new experiences, but that's a discussion for another thread.