Nothing Goofy about Disney park moves

[WDW1974]

They seem to be fooling a record number of these once in a decade folks. The parks keep getting busier and busier despite being "stale" and under maintained.

WDW hasn't gotten stale for me yet. But I've only been going for 4 years, and never went as a child.

I'll enjoy it while I can, and if I ever stop enjoying it, I'll look elsewhere. Seems logical to me.

Busier and busier? Maybe MK. ... and Disney is absolutely getting many 'one and dones' ... you think this is a healthy way of growing a business?

It hasn't gotten stale for you? Great. Pass the Pixie Dust. Some of us have been going a whole lot longer than four years (although one might think, depending on how often you have been in four years, that you'd find elements stale already).

For those of us who visited a decade ago ... and two decades ago ... and three decades ago ... and four decades ago ... WDW is plenty stale, plenty Walmarted, and plenty of marketing magic.

Am I happy that you enjoy it now? Not really because folks like you contribute to the general dumbing down of the entire product by accepting a much lesser quality (at much higher price points) experience and that is what Disney responds to.

 

[WDW1974]

A boatload has been spent at WDW too, just in all the wrong places.

That is true. Billions have been spent. On data mining and trip planning apps (oh, and let's not forget changing every door lock!) ... on timeshares ... on new dining venues ... even on the modest Fantasyland project.

Yep, money has been spent. Wisely spent? Another question entirely ...

 

[orky8]

Sorry for contributing to thread drift but, to your point, ...

Tower Of Terror might be WDW's best single attraction.

Actually, that would be Splash Mountain. But regardless, both attractions represent a time when Disney knew how to build truly amazing and innovative attractions nearly year after year. Splash opened in 1992 and Tower in 1994. Unfortunately, this was also WDW's peak, at least for the foreseeable future.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Are you guys kidding?!? MagicBands are one of the most exciting things Disney has ever done! I almost wet myself with excitement when mine arrived. I have worn it to work, actually pretty much 24/7 since it arrived. I pretend that I am unlocking my house door with it by doing a few Cirque de Soliel type moves while waving my wrist at my door . It's not just 4 year olds that eat this **** up. I am a fully mature adult and I LOVE 'EM!!!!! These magical bands are easily worth 3 or 4 craptacular Pottylands!



No, I'm not making fun of you guys.

OK, maybe a little.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Sorry for the drift but.....clunky pacing and lackluster songs....wow

Consider the source... Fox News.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Consider the source... Fox News.

I think you mean FOX "terrorist fist bump" News.

 

[Lord_Vader]

I think you mean FOX "terrorist fist bump" News.

I think they catogorize themselves as "News Entertainment" so that when they misinform it can be classified as entertainment much like TMZ, Jerry Springer, etc.

 

[xdan0920]

First of all, USAToday is barely a newspaper, IMO. It's a collection of puff pieces for the most part. This article is no exception. The reporter was fed the facts and he did what he was told, like a good little puppy.

You know, we've been talking here for a long time about what would be an effective "Potter swatter" for WDW. Most of us agree that Avatar sure as heck ain't it. Nor is Star Wars. The main reason is that NEITHER have that Disney connection in the public's mind. Remember, DCA in Disneyland didn't succeed in large part because - in Robert Iger's own words - it wasn't "Disney" enough. (The guy's a hypocrite, though - he says that, then buys the rights to Avatar to shoehorn it into AK, while ignoring the possibilities of home-grown product like The Lion King and Jungle Book...but I digress).

But now, Disney may have that "Potter swatter"...in Frozen. But it all depends on how ambitious Disney will get about it. Whether it will build a major attraction, or major area, or just stick with the meet-and-greets.

Sadly, it'll probably be the latter...

From what I'm able to gather, the M&GS is the most Important thing.
Assuming they built a winter land based on Frozen. You know what the most popular aspect would be? Meeting Anna and Elsa. So why bother?

Oh boy, that was cynical.

 

[dstrawn9889]

if it was really snowing in FL where the ride was, everyone would be there (not soap 'snow', real dihydrogen monoxide crystals falling to earth)

 

[bhg469]

if it was really snowing in FL where the ride was, everyone would be there (not soap 'snow', real dihydrogen monoxide crystals falling to earth)

I hear that stuff is dangerous.

 

[NearTheEars]

Busier and busier? Maybe MK. ... and Disney is absolutely getting many 'one and dones' ... you think this is a healthy way of growing a business?

It hasn't gotten stale for you? Great. Pass the Pixie Dust. Some of us have been going a whole lot longer than four years (although one might think, depending on how often you have been in four years, that you'd find elements stale already).

For those of us who visited a decade ago ... and two decades ago ... and three decades ago ... and four decades ago ... WDW is plenty stale, plenty Walmarted, and plenty of marketing magic.

Am I happy that you enjoy it now? Not really because folks like you contribute to the general dumbing down of the entire product by accepting a much lesser quality (at much higher price points) experience and that is what Disney responds to.

I understand why it's stale for a lot of you guys. That's why I added that I've only been an AP since 2012 to my signature so some may better understand my views.

Like I said, I'll enjoy of while I can since it hasn't gotten stale yet for me. And if the continue down this path of little updating and I get bored with it, I'll spend my entertainment dollar elsewhere.

 

[Figment2005]

I've learned it does not matter what other people think, as long as you enjoy something, keep doing it.

 

[Figment2005]

A boatload has been spent at WDW too, just in all the wrong places.

Wrong places is 100% an opinion.

 

[Next Big Thing]

Wrong places is 100% an opinion.

Not ALL of the spending at WDW has been in the wrong places. However, spending $1.5B on MagicBands i'd say would qualify as spending in the wrong places. Not to mention the consistent DVCs they keep building with no new attraction line-up to match. If they can build these hotels and even get things going fairly fast (by Disney standards) at Disney Springs, there's no reason why attractions take as long as they do to build in WDW and why more aren't in production.

 

[TubaGeek]

Wrong places is 100% an opinion.

Yeah, but you're insane if you don't see it as grossly imbalanced.
Just my opinion.

 

[Figment2005]

Yeah, but you're insane if you don't see it as grossly imbalanced.
Just my opinion.

Just because I feel that something might have been done in the wrong way does not make it fact. Do I like that they spent money on infrastructure instead of attractions, no. Do I know everything about the inner workings of the company that caused them to make that decision? Answer is yet again no. I understand the passion that comes with something you enjoy, but it just isn't logical to dwell on things we have no control over.

 

[ParentsOf4]

This is one for the books, but I'm about to say the following sentence: SJN1279, that's a very good point.
My opinion regarding Star Tours being a D-ticket, though, stands. Regardless of randomized scenes, I don't think I can refer to any motion simulator as an E-ticket, though maybe the Iron Man one they're working on will change my mind.

Ok, so I'm just about to be guilty of more thread drift ...

When Star Tours opened in 1989, most of us (OK, so I'm speaking for a lot of people) thought Star Tours was "totally awesome" (to use 1980s vernacular).

More to your point and slightly more on topic to this thread, I suggest that the last "bold" attraction at Walt Disney World was Expedition Everest in 2006. And it was not cheap. Whether you like it or not, Mission Space (2003) also was "bold". These were "bold investments" (stealing the term from the article that started this thread).

Soarin' was a cheap clone while Toy Story Mania simply was low-cost. Neither represented a "bold investment". The "New" Fantasyland is great for anyone in a stroller (hardly "bold"; Disney is chasing after "The Easy To Please" crowd who get excited seeing a grown adult dressed in a Halloween costume) while MyMagic+ is just a bad investment.

So, to the point of this thread, Disney hasn't made a "bold investment" at the WDW theme parks in 8 years.

The article's author was spoon-fed some information and typed it up into an article. Don't blame the author. That's how a lot of newspapers function today in order to stay afloat.

 

[TubaGeek]

Just because I feel that something might have been done in the wrong way does not make it fact. Do I like that they spent money on infrastructure instead of attractions, no. Do I know everything about the inner workings of the company that caused them to make that decision? Answer is yet again no. I understand the passion that comes with something you enjoy, but it just isn't logical to dwell on things we have no control over.

You saw "dwelling", I say "venting".
And I'm starting to think you don't realize how much they could have done with 2.5 billion... All those maintenance issues? Gone. Empty pavilions? Restored. Expansion plots? Filled with E-tickets.

 

[bhg469]

Ok, so I'm just about to be guilty of more thread drift ...

When Star Tours opened in 1989, most of us (OK, so I'm speaking for a lot of people) thought Star Tours was "totally awesome" (to use 1980s vernacular).

More to your point and slightly more on topic to this thread, I suggest that the last "bold" attraction at Walt Disney World was Expedition Everest in 2006. And it was not cheap. Whether you like it or not, Mission Space (2003) also was "bold". These were "bold investments" (stealing the term from the article that started this thread).

Soarin' was a cheap clone while Toy Story Mania simply was low-cost. Neither represented a "bold investment". The "New" Fantasyland is great for anyone in a stroller (hardly "bold"; Disney is chasing after "The Easy To Please" crowd who get excited seeing a grown adult dressed in a Halloween costume) while MyMagic+ is just a bad investment.

So, to the point of this thread, Disney hasn't made a "bold investment" at the WDW theme parks in 8 years.

The article's author was spoon-fed some information and typed it up into an article. Don't blame the author. That's how a lot of newspapers function today in order to stay afloat.

You made a great point about mission space. Even though it replaced a beloved attraction, it was easily one of the most innovative rides in a long time.

 

[Figment2005]

You saw "dwelling", I say "venting".
And I'm starting to think you don't realize how much they could have done with 2.5 billion... All those maintenance issues? Gone. Empty pavilions? Restored. Expansion plots? Filled with E-tickets.

It has nothing to do with understanding. I just choose to not dwell it what they did, and look towards what they could do with it. The infrastructure opens up a plethora of options, Disney just needs to take advantage of them.