Spirited News & Observations II -- NGE/Baxter

[bubbles1812]

You don't have to worry. Viva Elvis was replaced by another show (Zarkana maybe?) last year. Vegas can still be quite cheap, but you have to know where to stay and when to go. I'm getting offers all the time and while I gamble some, I am by no means a whale. ... Just a warning, though, that some point around 2008 the MGM Resorts adopted a resort fee at all their properties (most around $16-20 a night), while Ceasar's resorts have none.

My faves are still The Hotel at Mandalay Bay (about to become The Delano) and the Venetian.

Love Mandalay Bay! That's where my family stayed two years ago when we decided to spend a week in Vegas. Not so expensive that it's unaffordable to a middle class family like mine but not cheap and tacky like Excalibur or New York New York. I didn't think the Beatle's Cirque, Love, was bad. Found it quite interesting. O was by no means bad but it was my least favorite of the three I saw. But my absolute favorite was Ka. I liked that it had a story to it and that stage is pretty dang amazing. We saw clips of the Elvis one and said no way...

Anyways. Very interesting reading in this thread. Seems like an awfully poor business strategy that is mostly capable of generating short term gains at the cost of long term ones. There may come a time when even the most ardent Disney fans are sick of being squeezed to death for every last penny and stops coming... What does that leave Disney with if they actually manage to drive their core base away? And I see that happening sooner rather than later. (No not saying next year or anything but not saying would be 50 years from now if nothing changes in the corporate culture)

I'm always so curious. I have to wonder what the execs at Universal/Comcast think when they see Disney implementing some of these strategies? Are the laughing at the concept of Next Gen? Would assume they are ecstatic Disney seems to have somewhat given up on competing attractions wise, ect... any announced project (Avatarland, Carsland, whatever they end up actually green-lighting is clearly years away). Or do they have some execs who adhere to the Blue Ocean Strategy as well?

 

[articos]

I do think the team concept of a creative CEO with a financially oriented President (assuming you get the right match) has been shown to work well over the long term. However, these days it is hard to find enough people at that level who have egos that can work as a team. It is rare to find the creative CEO with a great financial discipline these days. I'd rather have my CFO more of a guy who says what is and isn't financially viable but that model seems to be dying off. Seems like CFO's are a lot more active these days.

Agreed. On all of the above.

 

[articos]

But now they have gotten greedy (just like our pal Mickey) and some of their shows have been dreadful. How they could have screwed up a show about Elvis in Las Vegas is just astounding, but they did (I actually fell asleep during it!)

Don't get me started on Cirque post Franco.

 

[stlphil]

I'm not going to profess to be an expert in business. I have a degree, but I don't have the experience as many people in this thread or executives at Disney.

Having said that, WDW1974's original post makes sense. It's very likely misguided, but it makes sense. The problem is that the Parks and Resorts were a Blue Ocean Strategy in 1955, and they have evolved within the context of being theme parks with innovation and traveling down other routes but it hasn't been a significant leap from what they know. Things like ESPN are a true Blue Ocean Strategy, but it was a purchase. Things like Marvel and Pixar were really extensions of what was already there.

Back to what they're doing with Next Gen, it seems that instead of viewing the Parks and Resorts as we do, they are now viewing it as, "We have an area where 100K+ people visit daily, let's create a giant focus group and sell that information." In doing so, they're ignoring what resulted in the creation of that area where 100K+ people visit daily. They're ignoring that by simply maintaining that area or dare I say, enhancing that area, they could make money by doing what they're already familiar with.

Ten or so years ago under the Pressler regime they tried viewing the parks as shopping malls, and that was a disaster. Now with NextGen they are viewing the parks as streams filled with tagged "catch-and-release" sturgeon, just waiting to have all the roe squeezed out of them.
Maybe they should just view the parks as parks, and make them the best they can be.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Kim and Mauborgne, the authors of BOS, have been espousing Value Innovation since the 1990s. Frankly, they are trying to take credit for rebranding a very old business idea, innovation.

Ultimately, businesses prosper through well-executed innovative ideas. That’s why Walt and Roy Disney succeeded, not because they were students of BOS. Walt Disney was the antithesis of the “Value Engineer” found today at his namesake company.

The one thing most Disney senior executives have consistently shown over the last decade is a complete lack of innovative solutions. They’ve been doing what they’ve been doing for far too long and their well of good ideas has run dry. Nor do they have a capacity to properly evaluate the good idea when presented with one.

WDW will not experience a true Renaissance until Disney leadership is replaced by a group of vibrant creative thinkers. Until then, Disney will be stuck in its current operational model that attempts to use business school financial equations to calculate a winning formula. Innovation cannot be found in a formula; it comes from those with creativity and talent. Sadly, most of today's Disney executives lack the creativity and talent that once made Disney great.

 

[Obi Walt Kenobi]

This is all very interesting I would love o see someone from the creative side of things running the show. It would seem there is still some creative talent working for Disney with a knack for business. How much power does a Lasseter wield as chief creative Officer disney/pixar and chief creative advisor imagineering?

 

[articos]

Ten or so years ago under the Pressler regime they tried viewing the parks as shopping malls, and that was a disaster. Now with NextGen they are viewing the parks as streams filled with tagged "catch-and-release" sturgeon, just waiting to have all the roe squeezed out of them.
Maybe they should just view the parks as parks, and make them the best they can be.

Agreed. And...ew.

 

[articos]

You don't have to worry. Viva Elvis was replaced by another show (Zarkana maybe?) last year. Vegas can still be quite cheap, but you have to know where to stay and when to go. I'm getting offers all the time and while I gamble some, I am by no means a whale. ... Just a warning, though, that some point around 2008 the MGM Resorts adopted a resort fee at all their properties (most around $16-20 a night), while Ceasar's resorts have none.

My faves are still The Hotel at Mandalay Bay (about to become The Delano) and the Venetian.

Thankfully, Viva zzzzzzz Elvis (wha? what'd I miss?) is gone. KA is impressive technically, but meh creatively to me, although most who see it like it. Believe is godawful. Love is the one good new permanent show from Cirque in a while, and the only other show besides O that I recommend without reservation. I think everyone should see O at least once. Really. See it. Iris in LA was impressive creatively and technically, but a stupid idea to put it in LA as a permanent show, and it also just closed due to no attendance. Cirque needs to pull back and stop churning out product. There's only so many ways you can repurpose the same acts over and over again and have the same people want to see it for $100+ per ticket.

I'm sorry, I got sidetracked on Cirque. I did warn you.

The really cheap resorts have definitely jacked up the pricing...no more $29 rooms at TI or Monte Carlo. But I still see $79 at Paris and Planet Hwd every so often. I'm ticked off at Morgan's for the Delano licensing deal. theHotel is one of my secrets and pretty perfect the way it is, and they're messing that up. Oh well. Venetian/Palazzo is great.

Completely off topic...oops. Sorry.

 

[choco choco]

An outside example is Mark Loughridge from IBM. He is a money guy but has a degree is engineering as well. IBM is also an extraordinary company and he has a hand in that. I like long term thinkers.

IBM now focuses a lot on information technology. For a lot of people like me (materials scientist/chemist), we've been quite disappointed that IBM has gone away considerably from that kind of research.

To be fair, they are still one of the leaders in the nanotechnology field, but ever since they abandoned the computer building/microelectronics business, they've downsized that division a lot. They don't really focus on consumer products anymore (they used to be the best makers of computers in the world) instead focusing on consulting for corporate and big business.

I don't really know how that ties into the "blue ocean" discussion we've been having here, but IBM does seem to be a company that sacrificed a lot of the small fish to continually reel in the whales, and apparently that is to be commended.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

IBM now focuses a lot on information technology. For a lot of people like me (materials scientist/chemist), we've been quite disappointed that IBM has gone away considerably from that kind of research.

To be fair, they are still one of the leaders in the nanotechnology field, but ever since they abandoned the computer building/microelectronics business, they've downsized that division a lot. They don't really focus on consumer products anymore (they used to be the best makers of computers in the world) instead focusing on consulting for corporate and big business.

I must say that I'm quite concerned with our nation's, both public and private, lack of interest in the basic/applied sciences as well as laying the expensive and time consuming groundwork that will benefit future generations. It pangs me that our politicians and business leaders are so short sighted. The future is won by those who seize it.

 

[SirLink]

Well, do you have any intention of buying a Wii U? Being a console maker is a VERY expensive business. If Nintendo loses the faith of Third Party devs and sales tank in North America and Europe they will be in a very bad position. Nintendo can't afford to lose money on this console and a posible acquisition of its development studios and IP is a very real possibility.

Thing is it's he Microsoft subsidiary can never happen, same reason why no Japanese company can be owned outright by a foreign firm.

But it is less to do with the Blue Ocean stuff and that, they are underprepared for HD development and the pipeline tools for developers are kinda unwieldy. Compare Sony who are focusing on easier architecture of the PS4 and better development tools. This is the time when Nintendo should focus on Handheld...

 

[Darth Sidious]

IBM now focuses a lot on information technology. For a lot of people like me (materials scientist/chemist), we've been quite disappointed that IBM has gone away considerably from that kind of research.

To be fair, they are still one of the leaders in the nanotechnology field, but ever since they abandoned the computer building/microelectronics business, they've downsized that division a lot. They don't really focus on consumer products anymore (they used to be the best makers of computers in the world) instead focusing on consulting for corporate and big business.

I don't really know how that ties into the "blue ocean" discussion we've been having here, but IBM does seem to be a company that sacrificed a lot of the small fish to continually reel in the whales, and apparently that is to be commended.

Well it was Mark's decision to exit computers which I think they did all together (personal computers that is). They are blue ocean however in some other high tech solutions industries instead which is why I used him as an example.

 

[ttalovebug]

No.

Pixar is going to focus on what it has done remarkably well ... although I have some worries that Monsters U isn't gonna be the smash they think.

Or what they did do remarkably well until 2011. And though Brave fared better than Cars 2, it most certainly did not re-affirm their position as an audience and critical darling. The more releases that float in this gray area, the harder it will be to get that status back, don't you think? At least for me personally, Brave only intensified my fears that the days of creating films like WALL-E and Up are over.

Back to your regularly scheduled topic.

 

[alphac2005]

But now they have gotten greedy (just like our pal Mickey) and some of their shows have been dreadful. How they could have screwed up a show about Elvis in Las Vegas is just astounding, but they did (I actually fell asleep during it!)

A guy who my buddy and I went to school with was in charge of the music for the Elvis show. I guess he doesn't want to have that one on his resume?

 

[tomman710]

I'm always so curious. I have to wonder what the execs at Universal/Comcast think when they see Disney implementing some of these strategies? Are the laughing at the concept of Next Gen? Would assume they are ecstatic Disney seems to have somewhat given up on competing attractions wise, ect... any announced project (Avatarland, Carsland, whatever they end up actually green-lighting is clearly years away). Or do they have some execs who adhere to the Blue Ocean Strategy as well?

I mentioned a few weeks ago in another thread, my close friend is related to a Uni Exec and I was in a position to chat him up about this very subject ... in short, yes, Universal is essentially laughing at Disney and the Uni Execs view this all almost exactly as the majority of us do here ... short term gains at the expense of long term sustainability, he summed up his feelings with something along the lines of, "we'll just keep building rides and increase our market share."

 

[Bork Bork]

My simplistic take:

Blue Sky Imagineering > Blue Ocean Value Engineering

 

[Goofyernmost]

You can also have two creatives. By no means would I term Frank Wells a 'money man' even if he sorta winds up in that role a la Walt and Roy.

That thought never entered my mind, but, these days very few enter without making an immediate exit anyway. Frank a 'money man"? No way! Frank was an equalizer. When Mike went on one of his wild ego generated power trips, Frank would grab him by the ankles and pull him back down. He, in my mind, was one of the few that had the ability to tell Mike where the bull **** in the buckwheat and remain alive. He had some power over Mike (maybe blackmail for all I know) hopefully held together because Mike trusted him and Frank also had an amazing mind and ability to understand what needed to be done next.

After he died, so did Mike's ability to make good judgments. His inner voice (that was outer) no longer kept him on the right trial. But, money? Other than as part of the whole picture, was not a major concern of Franks in my opinion.

Bare in mind, however, that I had been viewing this from 3500 miles away. There are probably many that were much closer that may have seen that differently.

 

[Virtual Toad]

Wow is this depressing.

Running and *leading* a giant entertainment business for the benefit of your guests can lead to enormous personal gain and profit.

Strip-mining a cultural touchstone, running it systematically into the ground for short-term gain and personal profit, while openly treating your guests with contempt and hostility is an entirely different matter, one that relies far more on cowardice and insecurity than true leadership.

Walt Disney was one type of leader. Iger and company are something else completely.

The fact that the Disney Parks logo was designed to conjure up images of Six Flags was a calculated, deliberate move. One might even suppose it was introduced to kick-start the slow and methodical process of lowering expectations.

With NextGen the line in the sand has now officially been crossed. DisCo is not even trying to hide its motives, contempt and arrogance. People should think about this the next time they book their Magical vacation package or slap on their MagicBands.

Sadly I fear WDWs best days are long gone and will most likely never return.

 

[michmousefan]

Instead, UNI is pounding on Disney like Clubber Lang on Rocky.

... And who eventually ended up winning that fight?

 

[Figments Friend]

Okay.... from my POV. This is all about management culture and what is rewarded these days and it strays far far beyond Disney.

We complain that nothing creative gets accomplished. Nothing gets done. Thats because you have two types of people in the world working these days:

1 - Doers - the people who get **** done. Theyre generally ill tempered, slightly high strung, a tad abrasive but theyre usually your creative types and they get the job done.

2 - Corporate Weasels. - This is your "fail upward" category. People who do their job well enough to get noticed, make themselves look good but at the end of the day dont really do anything. Their job is to cover their own and navigate office politics well enough to get a promotion.

Unfortunately, management is full of weasels and they reward their own kind. They tell themselves that theyre all doing a good job and essentially have a good old fashioned corporate circle [K?]. But they don't actually do anything other than give each other raises and stock options. They also do a great job at going after the Doers in this world, as the Doers are generally bad at office politics and tend to tell weasels to [have Carnal Relations with a relative or close family member] regardless of the circumstances.

This is the basic management culture that goes on these days. And its destined to fail. Why? Because if you get rid of your creatives and all the people who actually get stuff done, eventually you won't get anything done. You becomes stagnent, you lose focus on what got you to your position and you stop innovating. Then your competition will take your market share and momentum.

Thats how companies fail. No amount of corporate degrees, consultants or specialists can replace people who get things done.

-
Awesome post.
Cuts to the heart of what is wrong currantly at TWDC