Spirited News & Observations II -- NGE/Baxter

jt04

Well-Known Member
congrats on throwing another 2-4 pages down the tubes after taking the troll bait

The entire conversation started when someone tried to make the claim that possible value added features of nextgen would be terribly unfair to children. That is within the context of the thread and something the OP should comment on upon his return.

Because if the spirit can't get Prime Rib on property because someone else might be on a hamburger budget and that just is not "fair" there will be hel heck to pay.
 

Funmeister

Well-Known Member
Gotta be a happy day for Paramount. Between IM3 and Star Trek they are going to have a very happy start to summer. Going to be so curious how the other Marvel sequels do. Know they did relatively well but none of them are IM.

I agree...good year for Paramount. Did you see what Disney has coming up for 2015? Will be the biggest year ever for a single Hollywood studio much less Disney.
 

jt04

Well-Known Member
Folks know WDW prices are perhaps my favorite topic to spout off about. Sorry for those of you who have read this before but I'll repeat it since some might have missed it.

In the spring of 1983, I purchased a 3-day park hopper ticket for $35 (including tax), about $81 today. Yet somehow the Disney company with $1B in annual revenue managed to invest $2B in EPCOT and still keep prices reasonable. Minimum wage was $3.35/hour meaning (excluding taxes) it took less than 11 hours of work to pay for that ticket. Today, a 3-day hopper costs $318.44, or about 44 hours of work at today's minimum wage of $7.25/hour.

Alternatively, adjusted for inflation, the price of a garden wing room at the Contemporary in the 1970s & early 1980s was less than the price of a Value Resort room today.

Or, if those are too "ancient history" for some, when first introduced in 2005, a 7-day base MYW ticket cost $199. In 2012 (still waiting for 2013 price increases) that same ticket costs $288, an increase of about 45%. For comparison, median household income has increased about 10% over the same period.

Time and again, Walt Disney emphasized providing his customers with value.

Iger's and Rasulo's greatest legacy is pricing families out of WDW.

Amazing they even stay in business. I'd just add that if you make minimum wage a trip to WDW should not be on a 'to do' list. Especially for families.

Rather take all that money (as you claim) and put it towards on-line courses or into a college trust so, in the future, affording a WDW vacation is a piece of cake. Worked for the spirited OP. (see how avoid thread drift?)
 

EPCOTCenterLover

Well-Known Member
Yeah... Disney World... The perfect place to start making sure kids know that life isn't fair. I think we should take it a step further and just stop those "dregs" who stay at the value resorts from coming in for more than an hour a day. While we're at it, lets prevent them from from making ADRs, getting to do M&Gs at all, and limit them to two rides per day.

That will show those children... Sorry, kiddos. Mommy and daddy are poorer than those people at the deluxes. We aren't as good so you shouldn't feel like you're entitled to meet Mickey. That's for rich people only.

Freaking please. It's Disney World. It's supposed to be a happy place. The kids have the rest of the world to teach them not to be entitled and to learn that life isn't fair... Every person experiences that lesson at some point. I don't think Mickey Mouse needs to teach them that.

You're misunderstanding my point. Of course, the whole family should have fun at Disney. And my comments were not anything close to commenting about class, race, or anything else. I, for one, stay at the value resorts when I can afford it.
 

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
Amazing they even stay in business. I'd just add that if you make minimum wage a trip to WDW should not be on a 'to do' list. Especially for families.

Rather take all that money (as you claim) and put it towards on-line courses or into a college trust so, in the future, affording a WDW vacation is a piece of cake. Worked for the spirited OP. (see how avoid thread drift?)
You really don't get it, do you?
 

jt04

Well-Known Member
You're misunderstanding my point. Of course, the whole family should have fun at Disney. And my comments were not anything close to commenting about class, race, or anything else. I, for one, stay at the value resorts when I can afford it.

The major reason I have not been back for so many years it is not in the budget and I travel within a budget. I have no expectation that Disney set their prices according to my budget.

Too bad for the family of the guy that robbed the credit union to go on a Disney cruise that he did not have such an attitude.
 

CDavid

Well-Known Member
The entire conversation started when someone tried to make the claim that possible value added features of nextgen would be terribly unfair to children. That is within the context of the thread and something the OP should comment on upon his return.

Because if the spirit can't get Prime Rib on property because someone else might be on a hamburger budget and that just is not "fair" there will be hel heck to pay.

Fair doesn't mean everyone gets treated the same. Fair does mean everyone gets what they need.
 

MattM

Well-Known Member
A Disney vacation can be affordable to almost anyone, as evidenced by the crowds, if properly researched and budgeted.

We need economic recovery no doubt.

I don't entirely agree with this. I would argue that at almost any given time, every other person at Disney World is there on credit, and will be paying interest on that trip for years to come just because they wanted to go when they wanted to go. There is no delayed gratification in this country anymore. "I want it and I want it now" regardless of the fact they will have to go into debt to get it.

But that is a self-inflicted wound.
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
Weird the number of repeat visits Disney parks get for such a terrible place. Nobody is forced to visit or work there. If you do not like it you can leave.

Then start your own theme park. You could make it a perfect place for everyone and call it Shangri-La. o_O
The problem is that one was already started. It was started by a man called Walt Disney. It's name was Disneyland. He could have wanted a place that had a multitude of levels of status, but that isn't what he wanted. He wanted a place for everyone...everyone to go and have fun and participate on an equal level with everyone else. Disneyland wasn't built to showcase the fact that not everyone is wealthy or better then the other because they have more cash or more education or more clout.

It worked pretty well too. Made a lot of money, made a lot of people happy. It didn't need to separate by artificial means, everyone from every nickel that they had. It manage to do it because people wanted to do that and it had a return for them, it had an escape from life and it's levels.

So, maybe you are right. Maybe someone should start a theme park like that. Model it after what Disney used to be. I'll bet it will do well.

Personally, I never had a problem with someone being able to go more often, buy more stuff, or eat bigger meals on a consistent level. However, when I was there, I do not want to be blocked out of participating in everything the place has to offer, because my wallet is slimmer then someone elses. The world has plenty of that, and I go to a place like Disney to escape the world, not embrace it. I can stay home, save money and still be made to feel less than important. I don't and cannot imagine doing that and paying through the nose for it.
 

Hakunamatata

Le Meh
Premium Member
The problem is that one was already started. It was started by a man called Walt Disney. It's name was Disneyland. He could have wanted a place that had a multitude of levels of status, but that isn't what he wanted. He wanted a place for everyone...everyone to go and have fun and participate on an equal level with everyone else. Disneyland wasn't built to showcase the fact that not everyone is wealthy or better then the other because they have more cash or more education or more clout.

It worked pretty well too. Made a lot of money, made a lot of people happy. It didn't need to separate by artificial means, everyone from every nickel that they had. It manage to do it because people wanted to do that and it had a return for them, it had an escape from life and it's levels.

So, maybe you are right. Maybe someone should start a theme park like that. Model it after what Disney used to be. I'll bet it will do well.

Personally, I never had a problem with someone being able to go more often, buy more stuff, or eat bigger meals on a consistent level. However, when I was there, I do not want to be blocked out of participating in everything the place has to offer, because my wallet is slimmer then someone elses. The world has plenty of that, and I go to a place like Disney to escape the world, not embrace it. I can stay home, save money and still be made to feel less than important. I don't and cannot imagine doing that and paying through the nose for it.

So if equality was the driving force behind what Walt did, why did he create Club 33, one of the most exclusive private clubs in the area?
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
So if equality was the driving force behind what Walt did, why did he create Club 33, one of the most exclusive private clubs in the area?
For one thing almost none of the public even knew about Club 33. It wasn't advertised as an attraction ever. It was set up to entertain what ever big wheels came into the park for whatever reason. Very, very few people would have wanted to go there anyway. They were there for entertainment. In California, expensive exclusive clubs were on every corner. It was not a public draw. Apples to Oranges my friend. I'm sure that there were executive bathrooms that excluded the public as well. It was not even part of the discussion.
 

Hakunamatata

Le Meh
Premium Member
For one thing almost none of the public even knew about Club 33. It wasn't advertised as an attraction ever. It was set up to entertain what ever big wheels came into the park for whatever reason. Very, very few people would have wanted to go there anyway. They were there for entertainment. In California, expensive exclusive clubs were on every corner. It was not a public draw. Apples to Oranges my friend. I'm sure that there were executive bathrooms that excluded the public as well. It was not even part of the discussion.
Keep thinking that.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
So if equality was the driving force behind what Walt did, why did he create Club 33, one of the most exclusive private clubs in the area?
I do not think Club 33 actually opened until after Walt Disney's death. It's genesis was also in the sponsor lounges at the World's Fair. It was a place intended more for business dealings than private individual members. Of course the dining situation up the road at the Studio also showed a clear separation of people.

That said, I think the gregariousness of Disneyland gets over stated. The park had an entirely different pricing model until the 1980s. Those with more could do more because it was a pay-per-play system. While the ticket books were the dominant means of purchasing attraction admission, one could pay-per-attraction at the ticket booth or purchase individual tickets. The difference now though is the packaging of several components for a single, all-or-nothing price that is being compounded in its sting due to the increase in price with the simultaneous removal of pieces from the package. It's the increments that really create a strong stratification. Differences of $1 are different that differences of $100 or $1000. There is less scalability for the current system which reduces the means by which people across different budgets can gain access. The barriers to entry are greater today.
 

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
Which is why it was stupid to buy Marvel in the first place since Disney now has to split costs with rival studios and parks. The logic behind the Marvel acquisition still confounds me.

The Marvel brand license has a value of $6 billion based on annual sales (http://ifanboy.com/articles/quantifying-the-value-of-the-marvel-and-dc-brands/) between merchandise, box office receipts, home video sales, TV show rights and (lastly) theme park opportuinies, from an investment standpoint acquiring Marvel was a good choice.
 

Cody5242

Well-Known Member
Iron man 3 is on pace to gross between $170-175 mill becoming the second highest opening weekend ever beating the final Harry Potter movie. Bob Iger is jumping with glee
 

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