Spirited News & Observations II -- NGE/Baxter

[SirOinksALot]

No - but I'm tired of dealing in this cellar. Feel free to believe what you want... UNI is on a death spiral based on spending while they didn't have Jaws... the locusts should show up next month.

Nah, I'll believe what I hear and read, not what I want. I want Uni to build more resorts, and I don't believe they're doing that. But just like ParentsOf4, you've taken my original point and twisted it all up in what is the norm for here

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

I would love to add five E-Tickets every year but the financials just won't support it. The thing about my ideas is they account for accounting, maintenance, ops and every other factor. Ultimately the pixie dust is just for show. It is a business at its foundation. Which is why Universal announced a ticket price increase today.

Didn't say five E-tickets a year were needed. Just that your ideas are woefully misguided. Kisses!

 

[ParentsOf4]

Needless to say, the outlook is different now than in late 2011 when most of this plan was approved. And I can tell you, whoever greenlit most of what went into Citywalk last year isn't grappling with explaining unprecedented growth.

Citywalk, Universal's version of Pleasure Island. Exactly how well did Pleasure Island work for Disney?

No, Disney just has more mouths to feed than WDW. When Uni built Potter, Disney built two cruise ships. All three are doing quite well and receive great reviews.

DCL is an outstanding product. DCL is perhaps Parks & Resorts best endeavor in recent years.

However, there are some concerned at the recent appointment of Anthony Connelly as head of Cruise Line Operations, fearing he will attempt to "value engineer" DCL the way he did the domestic parks.

 

[SirOinksALot]

Citywalk, Universal's version of Pleasure Island. Exactly how well did Pleasure Island work for Disney?

At this point, as I said before, you're just embarrassing yourself with horrific reasoning. I mention how the monitzation of every square inch of Citywalk didn't pan out that well, and you take it in a completely different direction. Downtown Disney makes more merch revenue for Disney (not third parties) than Disneyland. Not DTD Anaheim.... Disneyland. And that includes a semi-wasteland that they probably shouldn't have closed to the degree they did.

We can't afford another summer doesn't mean, Oh no, we're about to run out of money. It means that they needed to unstall the momentum to stop Comcast from getting skeptical, aka get Transformers open by May to get the summer kick. But you folks are literal and obviously have issues with comprehension. And that's not an insult mods, that's plain and obvious fact.

Again, I don't block people here because I think that invalidates the purpose of coming here if you just craft the message to be what you want. But your contributions here are generally very low quality.

 

[marni1971]

Done!

Thank god you're not in charge.

 

[ParentsOf4]

At this point, as I said before, you're just embarrassing yourself with horrific reasoning. I mention how the monitzation of every square inch of Citywalk didn't pan out that well, and you take it in a completely different direction. Downtown Disney makes more merch revenue for Disney (not third parties) than Disneyland. Not DTD Anaheim.... Disneyland. And that includes a semi-wasteland that they probably shouldn't have closed to the degree they did.

We can't afford another summer doesn't mean, Oh no, we're about to run out of money. It means that they needed to unstall the momentum to stop Comcast from getting skeptical, aka get Transformers open by May to get the summer kick. But you folks are literal and obviously have issues with comprehension. And that's not an insult mods, that's plain and obvious fact.

Again, I don't block people here because I think that invalidates the purpose of coming here if you just craft the message to be what you want. But your contributions here are generally very low quality.

My, such anger. You really do need to calm down and stop insulting everyone who disagrees with you.

 

[SirOinksALot]

My, such anger. You really do need to calm down and stop insulting everyone who disagrees with you.

You also have to understand.... I've sourced stories that ended up on the front page. I could be much, much more beneficial to this site but I just end up getting trolled by people like you.

 

[jmb2676]

I can see the Consol Center from my office... they need to build a giant penguin statue on top of it. Or near it.


I'm loving that Octopus!

Even if it is for the red wings

Me too! Go Pens!!!

 

[71jason]

Avatar versus Potter is apples and oranges.

Avatar's job will be to turn a half day park into a full day park.

But if your primary goal is to fill hotel rooms, as Sir OinksaLots said and I agree with, what's the difference between a half-day park or a full-day park? Staying on-site provides the same benefit for either.

You only need a full-day park if you're afraid guests will ditch a day or two at your parks (probably the two even biannual guests recognize as stale, half-day parks) to spend at Universal--trading both sides of Potter for DHS and AK. Because those are guests more likely to rent a car and stay off site. Which makes Avatar v. Potter McIntosh v. Red Delicious.

People come to Disney for Disney. Uni's growth has been driven by Potter. Nothing on the planet could have drawn the hype that Potter drew. Avatar is part of a portfolio. Potter IS the portfolio. No, it's not Universal's only draw, but it's by far their best play at the moment.

I think you seriously underestimate the appeal of Transformers. For that matter, I think Marvel has a lot of pull. Not saying either is Potter--I agree with you for the most part re: hype, the only thing that might come close is Star Wars--but the other properties still have some inherent appeal.

The trouble with Universal since IoA opened was never the parks. The comparisons to Six Flags were just Disney fanboi delusion. But the marketing has been horrible, starting with that "Universal Escape" misfire. WWoHP has basically given Universal a "do-over" to re-market their parks, and this time they seem to be doing a much better job.

 

[jt04]

Thank god you're not in charge.

Something in particular?

 

[twebber55]

But if your primary goal is to fill hotel rooms, as Sir OinksaLots said and I agree with, what's the difference between a half-day park or a full-day park? Staying on-site provides the same benefit for either.

You only need a full-day park if you're afraid guests will ditch a day or two at your parks (probably the two even biannual guests recognize as stale, half-day parks) to spend at Universal--trading both sides of Potter for DHS and AK. Because those are guests more likely to rent a car and stay off site. Which makes Avatar v. Potter McIntosh v. Red Delicious.



I think you seriously underestimate the appeal of Transformers. For that matter, I think Marvel has a lot of pull. Not saying either is Potter--I agree with you for the most part re: hype, the only thing that might come close is Star Wars--but the other properties still have some inherent appeal.

The trouble with Universal since IoA opened was never the parks. The comparisons to Six Flags were just Disney fanboi delusion. But the marketing has been horrible, starting with that "Universal Escape" misfire. WWoHP has basically given Universal a "do-over" to re-market their parks, and this time they seem to be doing a much better job.

dont really want a part of this debate but i would say to keep people in parks means more spending $

 

[MattM]

They're exploiting PROVEN media commodities using outsourced ride systems. Nothing revolutionary there. It's good business, but this thread usually hates good business.

Disney gets flamed because Avatar isn't internal IP but Uni is worshipped for what they're doing with Rowling's Potter. Disney gets flamed because WDI has lost all creativity, but Uni is worshipped for buying a license from KUKA.

You are not supposed to use logic, dude.

 

[MattM]

"Kiddy" might be a negative to you but it should be good for, you know, kids. Also, parents and grandparents have thrill tolerances closer to their younger children than their teenagers.

Uni's risk is they're building big kid rides themed to a younger kid brand. Teens and twenty somethings love Potter because they grew up with it but I see the franchise going the way of Twilight rather than Tolkien.

I wish WDWMagic would add a feature that I can "auto-like" all your posts. Have been away dealing with certain very public, very real scandals, and am just catching up. But you are spot on.

 

[misterID]

Yes, the same three people liking each others posts. I'm shocked!

If it's just one Avatar ride, AK will still be a half day park. If it's as big as you say, Avatar will be THE park, more than Potter is UNI, which is ridiculousto dismiss UNI like that, when IOA has Spiderman/HP/JP/and Seuss Landing. What does AK have? I've seriously been asked this question by family members as we plan our vacation. Everest? The Safari? Dinosaur? I get a, "meh. I want to ride Everest."

And we're still debating the legs of Potter?

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

Also, upon entering EPCOT 2 weeks ago I was asked to give my email for a survey. Now that I have completed the survey I found some of the questions interesting and since I love me some pixie dust I hope the questions indicate that things may be coming to EPCOT. Most of the responses required me to actually type responses rather than just putting a numerical value to my feelings. The questions I remember:

• the select an answer question was about how much merchandise I had purchased and then the follow up was to explain why I chose that answer
• there was another question about the attractions I experienced and something related to up keep
• a question about cast member friendliness and helpfulness with a follow up to name a specific event where a cast member made my day particularly magical
• a question about any Limited Time magic I may have experienced
• asking if I had seen the F&G festival with a follow up about the food booths
• would I recommend Epcot to others
• did I have enough time to see everything I wanted to see (that one was hard because there was EMH so I did, but only because of that)
• did I participate in any character experiences, there was 1 or 2 follow up questions that I can't remember
• there was also a question or 2 about dining that I can't really remember
• one of my favorite questions was about the value I received for the price I paid and why
• it also asked if I was attending any other parks (UO,SW, etc) and which ones, I don't remember there being a why, but perhaps I didn't get that question since I wasn't attending any other parks.

I found it to be quite an interesting survey. I do however fear that my email is on a blacklist now after the answers I provided - oh well I was honest!

I got this survey as well. When we got to Epcot I was asked for my email address and gave it to them... unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of great things to say about my Epcot trip and I kinda let them have it with the survey. When asked for explanations, they got it.

My take on it is... if you don't wanna know, don't ask me. I don't sugar coat anything.

(if you want to read why I didn't like Epcot, there's a 10 billion word trip report in that forum)

 

[MattM]

From a purely business standpoint, Disney doesn't CARE if they're "cool" or not. Take a family of mom, dad, teenage brother, and eight year old sister. Teenage brother is usually too cool for his parents and WAY too cool for his sister. Disney appeals to the family where teenage brother suddenly ISN'T too cool for his family when they're on vacation together. He drops his facade and suddenly brother leaves his Beats by Dre headphones in the hotel room and he's taking pictures with Eeyore at the Crystal Palace. Universal goes the other direction. They decide that teenage brother will always be "too cool" for magic and princesses, so their angle is to convince them that they're cool, just like he is.

Yes. There really doesn't even need to be a point of contention between the two because the two aren't really comparable

No way around it, Uni appeals to a more mature crowd. Most of Uni's "best" attractions are for the 48" and over crowd. Boy or girl, a lot of the 10-to-12 crowd want to do the "grownup coasters". The ones I know followed their heights closely, hoping to reach the magical 48" and 54".

I would say mature only in age and height.

 

[MattM]

Your kids, of course, may not have enjoyed it, but there are many, many...millions...of kids who do.

And there are many, many more millions of kids who think WDW is just fine, too.

 

[MattM]

Oh please.

It's true. People here would !@#$% about show quality, etc if Disney did that.

 

[MattM]

Ah yes, the "you're a plant" line. You had to know it was coming, only surprised it wasn't sooner.

Yes, especially when they speak only in generalities with little to no actual knowledge. So the obvious answer is if you know more than me, then you must be a plant.

 

[MattM]

Universal is heading in the right direction.

I absolutely agree. And as I've always said, I am all for anything that bolsters Central Florida and its economy.