Spirited News & Observations II -- NGE/Baxter

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

Tony did rub some people the wrong way. Some didn't like how he became a "celebrity" to the fans. They thought he got too close to what many in WDI call "foamers". (I don't agree. I think a certain connection between Imagineers and the people who are the biggest fans of their work is not only desirable, but necessary.)

I already wrote about this in Eddie's thread, but this is a major source of animosity for Tony. Most of the leadership in Glendale, like Tom Fitzgerald, basically view their jobs as, well, jobs. Something to do to earn money that you spend way far away from all things Disney.

Unlike Tony, they themselves are not fans. They love the devotion of the fans as it translates into money being spent in the parks so their Imagineering employment continues merrily on. But they wouldn't be caught dead in the parks in their off-time as visitors, rubbing elbows with the unwashed masses they readily look down their noses upon. They're better than that, don't you know.

So for them, Tony is just another rabid foamer to be ridiculed. More's the pity.

 

[kittybubbles]

That's based on a column from a Sentinel sports writer who isn't worth the time mentioning by name. It's a "Blue Sky" column. This is a guy that still tries to stir the pot about Shaq leaving the Magic more than a decade and a half ago.

Thanks for that info. I thought it sounded a little out there, but I was surprised that the person was mentioning details on what Disney would expect from the NFL. I guess they had just read it in the paper. I avoid the news when I'm on a vacation.

 

[drew81]

Where was the post by the privacy expert....care to share a link?

It was on the disunplugged podcast. They did an interview with her. I'm not sure what the exact link is but it was their most recent show.

 

[dhall]

Now, tell me please, why does no one think it is a VERY troubling sign that Bob Iger is the first CEO in the history of TWDC to sell just about every share of Disney stock he can as soon as he can? I mean, he is not a poor man, he does not need the money. Why sell shares in the company you helm, the company whose trajectory is dictated by your decisions? ... Unless there is something else at play ...

Iger's the first CEO in Disney history with his own personal exit plan, and ambitions beyond Disney. I'm guessing (you're in a much better position than most anyone here) Eisner would've been happy to stay on indefinitely, if the wheels hadn't started coming off. It seems like the prior group (Ron Miller, etc??) couldn't survive the combination of 1) becoming stale and 2) shark investors smelling blood.

I don't think Disney is a company that can be managed, at its best, it can only be herded. Disney also can't be a stepping stone to something bigger: to be successful, Disney has to be managed with a passion for the business that it is.

--- re: BOS -- it was interesting to me that so much of the criticism of BOS is that it is descriptive rather than predictive. They find the elements of a success story the echo their observations and then play up those aspects to reinforce the theory: never mind that 999 out of 1000 businesses that try to create whole new markets fail to build anything compelling that gets customers to embrace the change. The whole concept reads like one more multi-level marketing scheme, or like almost every new software development methodology.

 

[WDW1974]

Just a few notes while they're on my mind and with limited time likely tonight:

Folks who point out that Iger is simply doing what any savvy businessman/investor would do are simply missing the most important point: namely that Iger is running the company and is an incredibly wealthy man. He doesn't need to cash out, and one who has faith in the direction of the company would not be so fast to cash in as soon as the shares are vested. They'd realize that not only does it look bad (like he's cashing out because he doesn't have the faith that more $$$ will be made down the road), but that it is worrisome because he knows things the rest of us do not.

While we've (apparently ... please correct me if I've missed something) begun the George A. Kalogridis era at WDW, there haven't been any Georgie sightings, any interviews with social media whores, and blog posts by Blondie, Bland Tommy or Crazy Gary. Matter of fact, some DLR CM posted a picture of himself on Twitter with George Friday at DL. Yes, the same day he was supposed to be starting his new gig in O-Town.

And apparently Georgie gave Michael Colglazier a whole Spirited social media class as the latter appeared as a special guest at Miceage/Micechat's 10th anniversary this weekend. I wonder if he brought any plush animal pals from DAK.

Oh, what else is going on?

Yeah, WDW is hiring MANY frontline CMs right now to deal with MM+, which sorta goes against one of the selling points of it.

We still have no official or classy response to Tony's 'resignation' by the company he worked for for 47.5 years. But apparently the loss didn't upset Eric Jacobson that much. You'll recall that last fall at IAAPA, Jacobson (the portfolio leader for most of WDW with the exception of DAK) struggled during a panel discussion with a question on what makes an attraction fit for MK vs. EPCOT ... and Tony had to jump in. And that Tony practically spit his disdain for Imagination to the audience. None of that sat well with Glendale and Tony (rightly in my opinion) didn't give a damn.

And tomorrow we have an earnings report from Disney.

Fun times indeed.

 

[Californian Elitist]

While we've (apparently ... please correct me if I've missed something) begun the George A. Kalogridis era at WDW, there haven't been any Georgie sightings, any interviews with social media whores, and blog posts by Blondie, Bland Tommy or Crazy Gary. Matter of fact, some DLR CM posted a picture of himself on Twitter with George Friday at DL. Yes, the same day he was supposed to be starting his new gig in O-Town.

You are correct. Michael showed up at one of the MiceChat 10th Anniversary events (something I sadly missed out on) this past weekend and was talking and socializing with the Disneyland fans. Trying to get on our good side, I'm sure he's been informed on the hardcore DL fans. I'm happy he seems to be trying and making an effort.

 

[WDW1974]

When was the last time you saw a WDW commercial that featured any of the walk-around interactive game experiences, NextGen, FP...really anything that would fall into the category of this new blue ocean?

Why would that be?

Maybe because those aren't the things that get people into the parks. You can game at home. You can't ride Thunder Mountain from the comfort of your sofa. You can't experience the Stretch Rooms from your house.

Attractions move numbers. Interactive gaming experiences are good fodder for Disney Parks Blog posts.

You can't market interactive queues.

You can't market FP+.

You can't market MAGICBands.

No one (even the craziest Pixie Dust cult members ... well, maybe some of them!) will book trips based on those items.

As @flynnibus has wisely and accurately pointed out, you do need to invest in infrastructure and IT and things that aren't glamorous (like me, for example!), but when you do so at the expense or in place of brick and mortar construction, you run into problems. And that is where BOS comes in. Disney is opting to not compete as UNI and SW race to place billions of dollars of concrete upgrades into their parks. Things that you can market.

REAL THINGS!

 

[Genie of the Lamp]

You are correct. Michael showed up at one of the MiceChat 10th Anniversary events (something I sadly missed out on) this past weekend and was talking and socializing with the Disneyland fans. Trying to get on our good side, I'm sure he's been informed on the hardcore DL fans. I'm happy he seems to be trying and making an effort.

I guess my question is why didn't George show Michael around DLR like the week before and what not before his first day on the new job at WDW? I mean shouldn't you report to your new job on the first day? Not saying there's anything wrong with this and I'm sure George had a busy schedule and had to get a few final things done at DL same case with Michael, but I don't know, just kinda befuddles me (not a big deal).

 

[Californian Elitist]

I guess my question is why didn't George show Michael around DLR like the week before and what not before his first day on the new job at WDW? I mean shouldn't you report to your new job on the first day? Not saying there's anything wrong with this and I'm sure George had a busy schedule and had to get a few final things done at DL same case with Michael, but I don't know, just kinda befuddles me (not a big deal).

I'm a little confused as to why George was (or is) still in California at the time. Guess he wasn't ready to leave yet LOL.

Maybe he still had some things to do, like you said.

 

[WDW1974]

There are studies that actually say otherwise too... that attractions are blips and don't add long term attendance in a mature park.

There is a big difference between 'keeping fresh' and 'expanding' when talking about 'attractions' too...

Absolutely. One might say that by having a 2001 daytime parade, 1972 night parade from DL, 2009 street party, and 2003 pyro show that WDW isn't doing the smallest of things to keep parks fresh. Oh, that was just at MK. We could also talk about DAK's 12-year-old parade or EPCOT's 13.5 year-old pyro show etc.

Keeping fresh can be done in ways that aren't $200 million E-Tickets. Disney doesn't do the bare minimum IMHO. (I know folks will point out 'New Fantasyland' here and I'll have to point how much they spent for very little improvement.)

If you want to see your own theory falter.. think about how many people would throw up their arms and say 'I won't go anymore' if tomorrow Disney ended EMH, MagicalExpress, FP, and meet and greets.

Well, a lot of people won't be going soon because EMH will be ending entirely as soon as they can. And FP is about to cease to exist as well (albeit replaced by FP+).

DME isn't going anywhere because it exists to keep people prisoners of Mickey.

And who doesn't like a nice grope from Daisy Duck?

A resort like WDW is a combined experience - attractions represent one piece. Magic Mountain is an example of 'all attractions' at all costs. You need more than 'whats new this year' to keep people coming back year over year.

True enough. But you also need new things. You can't simply have a mega-resort complex that has the same product year in and year out. You need constant refreshing and new entertainment type offerings, minor to mid-scale attractions added every few years and a new E-Ticket every century!

 

[BigThunderMatt]

True enough. But you also need new things. You can't simply have a mega-resort complex that has the same product year in and year out. You need constant refreshing and new entertainment type offerings, minor to mid-scale attractions added every few years and a new E-Ticket every century!

Hey they gave us a bowling alley and Disney's take on Yu-Gi-Oh/Pokémon/(insert some asinine Japanese trading card game here). What more do you want from them?!

 

[dhall]

Is it a Blue Ocean Strategy or is it making infrastructure improvements be a new form of profit?

Things like character meet and greets were never really attendance drivers, but the first Fantasyland proposal included 3 separate meet and greets that were meant to be full fledged attractions. More importantly, the larger scale infrastructure improvements in the form of Next Gen are meant to monetize things that improve guest experience. They couldn't start charging for use of the busses or the monorail, nor could they easily separate those costs from the price of our ticket or hotel room (although I'm sure they do that on the backend). But by installing in park wifi they sought to benefit from this beyond simply pleasing guests. They thought, "Wait, we have them on our network, can't we track their usage? Can't we see what websites they're visiting and use that information somehow?" Presumably someone followed that up with, "Hey, since we're tracking what websites guests visit on our network why not track what they spend... can the Keys to the World card do that? No? Well, what would it take to make that happen?"

I think there may have been another source, as well. I wonder if anyone in Epcot operations ever did any reports on times for players in the Kim Possible game: how long they took to reach particular destinations, how long between clues, etc. Given that, they have an early prototype for tracking parties as they move around the lake. If they found something useful in that pile of data, it may have whetted a few appetites for scaling the system up.

 

[WDW1974]

When everything becomes about maximization of processes and losing that special intangible touch of the human experience, the "magic" dissipates into binary 1's and 0's.

That is the problem. WDW no longer sees us (any of us ... from loyal 31-year APer whales like myself to DVCers to folks who come once a year or twice every five years or locals who drop by every other week) guests as people.

We are all just numbers on spreadsheets. Interchangable. We have no feelings. We just have values ... but I'm not ready to get into the whole credit aspect yet.

(Do you know your MAGICscore yet?)

Any company that is a creative one simply can't rely on mathematical formulas and MBA created algorithms to determine how to best run the business. It is square peg and round hole ...

 

[WDW1974]

So I guess the statement "~Change is coming. BIG, SPIRITED change!~" isn't happening anytime soon?

Don't be so sure!

 

[WDW1974]

Wait...I thought it was Blue Sky/Red Ocean! How am I supposed to understand when I'm not even sure of the name?

I wouldn't bother to learn.

(and, no, I am not being sarcastic ... it just isn't worth your time!)

 

[ChrisFL]

We are all just numbers on spreadsheets. Interchangable. We have no feelings. We just have values ... but I'm not ready to get into the whole credit aspect yet.

(Do you know your MAGICscore yet?)

Gah, should have known that was coming. I can imagine Disney's online games or teeny bop music purchases could go toward WDW points.

Honestly about 10-15 years ago this would seem like a smart move that I'd appreciate, Disney management has made me so jaded

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Hey Spirit, any news on how Iger's big fact finding mission went?

 

[WDW1974]

As much as it pains me to say this, I can see why TDO is not investing in any new attractions right now. The Magic Kingdom is the #1 theme park destination. They are already on top. We have already established there are no slow times at the park now. If they were to build a new attraction, where would all these people go? Would more guests really come, increasing the amount of money spent exponentially?

Believe it or not, but absolutely more guests might come if there were compelling reasons. Before the Fantasyland project (as modest as it may be) opened, someone who visited in 1998 or 2001 or 2004 would have had very little to see that wasn't the same old stale product. MK has huge expansion areas available that haven't been developed and that doesn't include areas already developed but largely being unused or underused.

Fantasyland was all about adding more capacity because many guests weren't able to hit that sweet spot of NINE attractions (yes, that really is true!) in a MK day (now, on most of my Spirited visits, I can easily do that in 90 minutes).

The MK is woefully short of attraction capacity, so it always feels packed. It isn't, no matter what you choose to believe. But lack of attractions, FP (which puts people on walkways instead of in queues) and shuttering entertainment, dining and retail locales have all resulted in lower capacity. It stands to reason if you added 3-4 major attractions, 1-2 minor ones and new entertainment that capacity would go way up.

No, I don't like it. Yes, I loved the parks mid 70's-mid 80's. I remember the street sweepers, the painters, the absolute perfection.

it was never perfect ... but at least that was the goal. They don't even try anymore to come closer than 'OK' ... and the parks were kept quite nicely well into the 90s as well.

I also recall the company nearly went bankrupt.

That had very little to do with WDW and a lot to do with many other factors, most notably not knowing how to go forward without Walt in a world that was changing. They figured it out ... Ron Miller was leading the company when EPCOT was built and TDL was built and WDW resort expansion was approved and The Disney Channel was launched and Disney finally decided to acknowledge and four-letter words existed by creating Touchstone Films etc. And it all worked, but it worked too late.

 

[Figments Friend]

I already wrote about this in Eddie's thread, but this is a major source of animosity for Tony. Most of the leadership in Glendale, like Tom Fitzgerald, basically view their jobs as, well, jobs. Something to do to earn money that you spend way far away from all things Disney.

Unlike Tony, they themselves are not fans. They love the devotion of the fans as it translates into money being spent in the parks so their Imagineering employment continues merrily on. But they wouldn't be caught dead in the parks in their off-time as visitors, rubbing elbows with the unwashed masses they readily look down their noses upon. They're better than that, don't you know.

So for them, Tony is just another rabid foamer to be ridiculed. More's the pity.

Well said.
That is indeed truly sad then if he was having to be treated like this.
These guys are really in the wrong occupation then if they have attitudes towards their work like this.
Completely wrong career...they should go into accounting instead.

Tony has a real PASSION for what he is doing, what he is creating, and is a fan of the Theme Park concept to boot. When you have that kind of passion, it is indeed difficult for other people of such short sighted nature to really understand. They just do not *get it*...and never will. You either have it in your chemistry naturally, or you are deeply moved or inspired by a experience that changes you into a better mindset.
Non-creatives only see dollar signs. Creatives see beyond that.

That is the big difference right there...
To sum it up,
Creatives have a passion for the act of creation.
Non-creatives only have a passion for the money, and creating MORE of it.

 

[WDW1974]

If Cars 2 and Brave have been any indication, my hopes are not high for Monsters U. They really need to get back on the ball...

I never wound up seeing Cars 2 (only Pixar film I haven't seen as soon as it came out), although I absolutely loved Cars. ... Brave was troubled, but wound up being a solid film. But I do think Pixar needs to really have a mega-hit again. Not sure that this prequel will do it. Then again, I hated the concept for Monsters Inc and wound up enjoying that quite a bit.

As long as I possibly have your attention by quoting your post Spirit, I wanted to ask you a question based on something you said on the previous (now obsolete?) thread. You explained how Cars Land in DL was an anomaly and not a good indicator of where WDI is heading because of John Lasseter's contractual influence. Would you say the same about Potterland at Uni? Wizarding World is wonderful, and it looks like the Diagon Alley addition will be just as great, but how much of this is because of JK Rowling's influence? I'd be more satisfied about Universal's future compared to Disney's if I saw some other great attractions being planned outside of Harry Potter.

That's actually a great question. (and the other thread is not obsolete ... I was just afraid of it going over 5000 posts and it was making moderating tough, so I thought it was time to take the two newsiest pieces of info and start another discussion)

I didn't quite mean what you inferred about Cars Land being an anomaly, but I sorta like what you took out of it more than what I intended. ... I absolutely think when you have folks like John or J.K., who are perfectionists, watching over your work that it's going to wind up better. I doubt we'd have any show issues on Mermaid if John were watching over it. So, I can say your point has merit to it.

That said, other great attractions are coming to UNI that have nothing to do with J.K. Rowling starting with Transformers. I am not willing to say everything UNI will add in the next five years will be great, but I do think they're largely aiming to be great and that makes you more likely to hit the target. Disney (at WDW) has not been aiming for anything more than OK. That shows too.