Numbers, Cars and Quality ...

[lazyboy97o]

What is scary about NextGen surpassing $1,500,000,000 is that not too long ago we were talking here about who is likely to replace Crofton when she leaves. The name that came up as likely was Jim McPhee who (in typically fashion) because an idol amongst fans for a small action (EPCOT Center's 25th). Since then he has been the one leading the NextGen initiative. If McPhee comes to head Walt Disney World he is going to be in the position of proving that NextGen works as it was his project. A project of this size will take its head if it sinks, so McPhee as head of Walt Disney World would do everything to stay afloat and show the initiative as a success

 

[sweetpee_1993]

It boils down to what Spirit, Lee, Marni, and others have been saying for years. People will continue to open their eyes to outstanding offerings off Disney's property. The foolproof plan of DVC to lock people into Disney vacations is failing as Uni/SWF/BGT keep plussing their offerings with no fear of dollar and appealing to those who are somewhat locked into regular visits. $399 for a regular AP!!! That just wreaks of people going off prop.

Yep. Agreed. The declining quality paired with the stupid, insulting prices vs. the awesome-sauce the competition is cooking up really makes the vacation decisions quite easy.

Can I say how thrilled I am to hear I can go to SW in San Antonio, buy the 2 year premium pass, and have it be significantly less than if purchased at SW Orlando?? I haven't checked that personally, yet, but it's definitely a great push towards decisions regarding what to do pre-/post- cruise in May.

 

[yoyoflamingo]

It boils down to what Spirit, Lee, Marni, and others have been saying for years. People will continue to open their eyes to outstanding offerings off Disney's property. The foolproof plan of DVC to lock people into Disney vacations is failing as Uni/SWF/BGT keep plussing their offerings with no fear of dollar and appealing to those who are somewhat locked into regular visits. $399 for a regular AP!!! That just wreaks of people going off prop.

Worse than that...that's the special for a Premium AP. Yup, that bad.

 

[SirLink]

What is scary about NextGen surpassing $1,500,000,000 is that not too long ago we were talking here about who is likely to replace Crofton when she leaves. The name that came up as likely was Jim McPhee who (in typically fashion) because an idol amongst fans for a small action (EPCOT Center's 25th). Since then he has been the one leading the NextGen initiative. If McPhee comes to head Walt Disney World he is going to be in the position of proving that NextGen works as it was his project. A project of this size will take its head if it sinks, so McPhee as head of Walt Disney World would do everything to stay afloat and show the initiative as a success

It could take a few heads, Iger for the concept, Staggs for approving the money, JR for letting it to continue and to dump more money in as well as McPhee. Oh it could be glorious!

 

[DocMcHulk]

It boils down to what Spirit, Lee, Marni, and others have been saying for years. People will continue to open their eyes to outstanding offerings off Disney's property. The foolproof plan of DVC to lock people into Disney vacations is failing as Uni/SWF/BGT keep plussing their offerings with no fear of dollar and appealing to those who are somewhat locked into regular visits. $399 for a regular AP!!! That just wreaks of people going off prop.

Another angle to DVC is that it's probably BETTER to buy an external timeshare for a few reasons:

• Other timeshares are cheaper
• Other timeshares offer more "bang for the buck", including larger living spaces, more occupant capacity, larger kitchens/dining rooms
• Other timeshares last indefinitely, whole DVC has a limited lifespan.
• Other timeshares have more flexibility to travel abroad (non-disney properties)

All these reasons are reasons I will NEVER buy DVC, but my family is very seriously looking into other timeshares.

 

[ScoutN]

Yep. Agreed. The declining quality paired with the stupid, insulting prices vs. the awesome-sauce the competition is cooking up really makes the vacation decisions quite easy.

Can I say how thrilled I am to hear I can go to SW in San Antonio, buy the 2 year premium pass, and have it be significantly less than if purchased at SW Orlando?? I haven't checked that personally, yet, but it's definitely a great push towards decisions regarding what to do pre-/post- cruise in May.

Ensure you get on easy pay there because they will lock you onto that rate as long as you remain on EZPay. IIRC the price increase this year shouldn't really be much at all.

Worse than that...that's the special for a Premium AP. Yup, that bad.

That's what I meant. Homework + long posts = bad idea.

 

[ScoutN]

Another angle to DVC is that it's probably BETTER to buy an external timeshare for a few reasons:

• Other timeshares are cheaper
• Other timeshares offer more "bang for the buck", including larger living spaces, more occupant capacity, larger kitchens/dining rooms
• Other timeshares last indefinitely, whole DVC has a limited lifespan.
• Other timeshares have more flexibility to travel abroad (non-disney properties)

All these reasons are reasons I will NEVER buy DVC, but my family is very seriously looking into other timeshares.

I factored all of those in before I bought in. The rate I was able to get was extremely low vs what the price is/was at the time directly from Disney. RCI would have been slightly higher and IF I ever wanted to exchange that for a Disney trip the wait list is insane. We have millions of hotel points for traveling abroad. This was a very frivolous purchase that it what it is to me.

Nevertheless my intention of making my earlier was NOT to justify DVC to any extent but shed light that the sure fire guarantee Disney had to keep people coming is not working out exactly as they had hoped and I surely do not want to see a great thread go to the wayside by people spinning my initial into a DVC bash fest. The DVC area is for that.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Ensure you get on easy pay there because they will lock you onto that rate as long as you remain on EZPay. IIRC the price increase this year shouldn't really be much at all.

Sweet holy heck! Why was I not onto this before???? I can get the 2 year Platinum pass at San Antonio for $230 less than the same pass purchased in Orlando. Okay, anyone who wants to come sack out at my place and make the 4 hour road trip over to San Antonio is totally welcome... Wowzers! I'll ride with you. We'll take my car. I love a good road trip!

 

[John]

If this is true and 1.5 BILLION is being spent on Nex-Gen....I am more then appalled. I am just trying to wrap my head around this.... The regular FP will go by the way of 20K? The poor wretched souls who dont want to pony up hundreds more per visit will be left standing in a manufactured wait time in a queue. Annnnnnnnd there is the potential that they will do away with Dining discounts and offer this as a "hook"....LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

I know this is conjecture but if this is truly what they have in mind they are so out of touch with reality that it long passes the comical stage. I am with Redsoxguy and this has the potential to be a complete disaster.

 

[DocMcHulk]

Any chance Burbank sees the skyrocketing price and force TDO to scale back?

 

[ChrisM]

So a colleague of mine had a cold call from the group chief executive and MD from Accenture who are the IT developers for the NGE program (they have basically done everything from the consulting piece when the program was being scoped out to the technology development). They wanted to pitch a specific tech piece to him.

Long story short - the Accenture reps told them that the NGE budget has now passed $1bn and is heading towards $1.5bn or higher. My colleagues' jaws were on the floor by that time.

I had no idea ACN was leading this charge. Guess I should actually pick up the phone and talk to some people every once in a while, eh?

Anyway, none of the above is suprising to me in the least. ACN knows its business; and they will bleed you dry if you let them. That place is amazing in thousands of ways and, while not perfectly managed, nails their big picture target every time.

They turn over pretty quick over there so I'm not sure who would be running this engagement. I'll see what I can find out.

 

[nytimez]

Any chance Burbank sees the skyrocketing price and force TDO to scale back?

To the contrary, it may be something where they think they're already in too deep to turn back now.

 

[EOD K9]

Here's a question. If Cars Land (as proposed in DHS) is being scaled back in terms of restaurants and rides, can you call it Cars Land? Wouldn't it just be RSR?

 

[invader]

Here's a question. If Cars Land (as proposed in DHS) is being scaled back in terms of restaurants and rides, can you call it Cars Land? Wouldn't it just be RSR?

Because they have to dumb it down for the lowest common denominator. Some people can't even hardly grasp the fact that the Magic Kingdom isn't all of Disney World.

 

[EOD K9]

Because they have to dumb it down for the lowest common denominator. Some people can't even hardly grasp the fact that the Magic Kingdom isn't all of Disney World.

Its not???? And I've been so wrong all these years then!!

 

[Lee]

What is scary about NextGen surpassing $1,500,000,000 is that not too long ago we were talking here about who is likely to replace Crofton when she leaves. The name that came up as likely was Jim McPhee...

Just want to pop in here to say that the current plan is not for McPhee to take the big chair at WDW when Meg leaves.
Turns out that part of the rumor was less than accurate. Someone else is being eyed for that job.
(No, sadly...it isn't me.)

 

[RSoxNo1]

I agree it needs to be a cross-site initiative.

Imagine if a lot of the major fan sites all posted something on the same day!
Or if all of them had a section devoted to these issues.

It's a unity thing. I can see it. I just don't have the ability to do it. Who does?

Here's the fear, though--it somewhat does need to be moderated/controlled. Otherwise, it won't
be taken seriously. We can't mix in petitions to "bring back that Ron guy as Dreamfinder" or
kick Starbucks out, or "rebuild Horizons" with serious, real-world concerns. It has to be sober,
adult, and reasonable. (sorry to any of you for whom those are pet issues, but I think this needs
to be bigger picture. I'll put aside my unatural desire to see 'veggie, fruit, fruit' again, if you'll
put yours aside.)

This can be a thing. We need to figure out how to do it, though. I don't have the connections
to try something like this, but behind the scenes, through email and PM's, someone does.

Coordinate. One mature, reasoned voice. LARGE. Could do something. Could help. Hopefully.

What say ye? St. Crispian's Day! Once more into the breach! Was it over when the Germans
bombed Pearl Harbor? Forth Erolingas! We CAN handle the truth! FREEDOM! Carpe Diem!
It is not this day! Charge!

I don't see a unified fan voice affecting change unless it becomes widespead. For that it needs to be organized and targetted. I would think maintenance issues are something that would be a good place to start and there are many people on here that have expressed interest in putting something together surrounding maintenance issues.

 

[RSoxNo1]

From @WDW1974 's old pal Lee MacDonald
So a colleague of mine had a cold call from the group chief executive and MD from Accenture who are the IT developers for the NGE program (they have basically done everything from the consulting piece when the program was being scoped out to the technology development). They wanted to pitch a specific tech piece to him.

Long story short - the Accenture reps told them that the NGE budget has now passed $1bn and is heading towards $1.5bn or higher. My colleagues' jaws were on the floor by that time.

That is more money than WDP&R has spent on any single theme park on opening. More than the DCA makeover (just) and more than either the Dream or Fantasy.

I'd love to get a hold of the business plan that underpins this spend. WDW Co. have put a lot of their eggs in that NGE basket.

Well that sucks.

 

[RandySavage]

Continuing on the subject of inaccurate rumors. Leemac from LP.com refutes Lutz's claim about Carsland being planned for TDL:

"guests love Westernland - and that includes the railroad, Twain, canoes, TSI etc. They are part of the fabric of the park. Collectively they have a higher occupancy rate than RSR by a huge margin. The park can't afford to lose capacity. I'm also not sure thematically how you could blend in BTMRR and Critter Country.

Lutz was definitely reaching with that rumor - there are absolutely no plans by OLC to bring Cars Land to TDL. That doesn't mean it won't happen at some point in the future but it is not on the development path - it is pure guesswork by him and his TDA sources.

Worth also adding that under the licencing agreement OLC would be required to stump up a share of the R&D costs on Cars Land if they pulled the trigger next year. That is precisely why OLC have waited to bring Midway Mania, Star Tours II etc. to the park. They don't like to have to pay more than their own construction costs when they pick up a clone."

Who is right?

I also am interested in the rumor by '74 about a 3rd non-Disney park at TDR. I would love to see a non-Disney IP park executed at the level - and with the budget of - a DisneySea, but from the little I know, TWDC maintains controls over the content of the TDR parks. For example, I didn't think OLC could go out on its own and build, say, a Smurf ride by an outside design firm in TDL even if they had the strong desire, and as such OLC couldn't build a non-Disney/WDI 3rd Gate under the Tokyo DISNEY Resort banner. Is this thinking wrong? Any clarification on the Disney-OLC arrangement?

 

[RSoxNo1]

Any chance Burbank sees the skyrocketing price and force TDO to scale back?

Why the hell are they freely spending money on this but not rides? This is the ultimate in shortsightedness.