Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[devoy1701]

so what in the Magic Kingdom do you think they should be doing that would bring you back?

How about a fully refurbished Space Mountain that we were supposed to have? New Tracks, new Trains, Onboard Audio instead of the stuff that whooshes at odd decibels as you pass by the speakers?
Some TLC to the Carousel of Progress including an updated final scene that would actually show a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow?
A fully refurbished Jungle Cruise that brings that ride back to it's former glory in addition to plussing it?
A fully reskinned Tomorrowland with a Tron E-Ticket
A replacement attraction for Stitches Great Escape
Our Frontierland Expansion that they've been toying around with for the past decade complete with a new E-Ticket
Bring back live entertainment to the Diamond Horseshoe
A facelift for the rest of Fantasyland, including a major upgrade to Peter Pan

That's without giving it much thought.

 

[Ignohippo]

old figures (someone feel free to correct me)

$35 billion a year so divide that by 365 and Disney earns $95,890,410 a day

wow seriously... you think Hyperion Barf was going to be like Disney Springs? talk about comparing apples to a moon rock

Talk about comparing apples to a moon rock!

Disney only makes around $2.5 billion from Parks & Resorts – not $35 billion. The moneys generated from NextGen will only be a percentage of that $2.5 billion. It won't necessarily pay dividends across the entire company (although I'm sure it could to a minimal extent).

So, even if NextGen generated an incredible 10% more for Parks & Resorts, that's only an additional $250 mill per year.

 

[devoy1701]

wow seriously... you think Hyperion Barf was going to be like Disney Springs? talk about comparing apples to a moon rock

The point I was making was regarding Mismanagement of WDW projects over the past decade. You can [insert project name here] and it's been mismanaged if it's happened in the past 10 years. I have no faith in TDO. None.

 

[WDWDad13]

How about a fully refurbished Space Mountain that we were supposed to have? New Tracks, new Trains, Onboard Audio instead of the stuff that whooshes at odd decibels as you pass by the speakers?
Some TLC to the Carousel of Progress including an updated final scene that would actually show a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow?
A fully refurbished Jungle Cruise that brings that ride back to it's former glory in addition to plussing it?
A fully reskinned Tomorrowland with a Tron E-Ticket
A replacement attraction for Stitches Great Escape
Our Frontierland Expansion that they've been toying around with for the past decade complete with a new E-Ticket
Bring back live entertainment to the Diamond Horseshoe
A facelift for the rest of Fantasyland, including a major upgrade to Peter Pan

That's without giving it much thought.

I like it... you're hired!

 

[DznyGrlSD]

Spend $3billion and FIX THE YETI!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[WDWDad13]

The point I was making was regarding Mismanagement of WDW projects over the past decade. You can [insert project name here] and it's been mismanaged if it's happened in the past 10 years. I have no faith in TDO. None.

point well taken... and I agree... I still have some faith tho... I just think things are mismanaged

I'm remaining optimistic with some of the personnel moves things may be changing down the road...we'll see

 

[rodmansju]

RFID isn't the problem, its the infrastructure needed to tie it all together. I am not apple bashing here but all this technology probably would have probably been more easily integrated if they used open source software or windows. Disney loves to blow money on stuff the consumer doesn't see though. Several billion blown on something no one asked for and only nerds like me find interesting, but I could take it or leave it.

i would be curious to see exactly how involved the apple infrastructure is on the back end. on the one hand, their hardware is pretty standard now (not like these are power pc servers). on the other hand...apple is no longer in the server space. so really don't know what infrastructure there is to rely on, which apple does well...or is even current. i think the last time they updated any enterprise offerings was several years ago. and if i am dropping billions on a project...heck, even millions....i want fairly current tech that is going to last a few years easily. not something that is already outdated before i even unbox it.

and if this is all about using ipads and ipods and such....well...they do play nice on windows machines too.

 

[willtravel]

Okay, in a nutshell, here's what I don't get about NextGen:

So, Disney usually makes about $2.5 billion per year in revenue from Parks & Resorts. NextGen is supposed to increase spending on things like additional nights at the Resorts (at most), and (at the least) have visitors spend more on things like food and merchandise.

So, how much more do they think the average guest will spend per vacation? 5%? 10%?

Even if the average guest now spends 10% more per visit than they do now (which would be astronomical), that only adds $250 million per year of revenue. With an initial cost of $3 billion, that means it will take 12 years to re-coup the initial costs – and that doesn't even take into consideration the annual costs, which some have estimated at as much as $300 million per year.

So how could this possibly EVER turn a profit?

Creative accounting..

 

[PhotoDave219]

Brings me the red head .

He should still pick up a tab once in a while.

Redheads are fun.

But red is natures color for danger

 

[PhotoDave219]

Like when Georgie K told the LA Times that they would have to turn guests away from DCA because it was full?

That quote comes out a lot.

 

[bubbles1812]

Well, kudos for even being able to write that well on an iPhone. I use my iPad most of the time to write on these boards, and my postnusuallynlooknlikenthis.

Haha. Lots of practice... And autocorrect. Though that can be a good or bad thing lol. It may be a "smartphone" but smart it always is not... In fact, it's often a dumb phone

 

[WDWFREAK53]

How about a fully refurbished Space Mountain that we were supposed to have? New Tracks, new Trains, Onboard Audio instead of the stuff that whooshes at odd decibels as you pass by the speakers?
Some TLC to the Carousel of Progress including an updated final scene that would actually show a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow?
A fully refurbished Jungle Cruise that brings that ride back to it's former glory in addition to plussing it?
A fully reskinned Tomorrowland with a Tron E-Ticket
A replacement attraction for Stitches Great Escape
Our Frontierland Expansion that they've been toying around with for the past decade complete with a new E-Ticket
Bring back live entertainment to the Diamond Horseshoe
A facelift for the rest of Fantasyland, including a major upgrade to Peter Pan

That's without giving it much thought.

Can we also get a replacement for the Laugh Floor (which, IMO, is even worse than SGE in all areas (pre-show, fitting into Tomorrowland, and effects) Laugh Floor is nothing more than a badly animated short.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Spend $3billion and FIX THE YETI!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No.

Screw the yeti.

That has become a rallying cry for people who are ignorant of the true problem and that is the way Disney manages its theme parks and the decision-making process goes behind them.

These people could be given a Ferrari and within two weeks they find away to total it.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

The average visitor to Orlando WILL see a change in how they vacation there with regards to where they spend their time and what they do.

Uni is shifting from the teenager park/glorified six-flags place people had been calling it for years to a well-established resort with high end dining, hotels, and attractions. They are moving at a feverish pace with more attractions, new lands, refurbished hotels and restaurants AND they still have more room to expand.

I'd enjoy splashing around at Wet-n-Wild while you still can.

Universal has altered their course and in doing so has strengthened their brand image of what a Universal park/resort is meant to be and in doing so will cause guest expectations at Universal to increase over the next 3 years.

In that same amount of time, SeaWorld will be doing (in a less big way) their own refurbishments and expansions.

....but down I-4....WDW's focus is on data mining it's guests. They are more interested in data and hotel rooms (and they can't even fill their hotel rooms now because there are too many and not enough people staying on site).

There are those high up in the company that know something...wrong choice of words......A LOT....is wrong with WDW.

Many are now sticking their head in the sand because they know the train is going to derail.

While Uni and even SeaWorld shift to become more sensory-overload resorts with new attractions, better dining and shopping, etc...WDW trucks a long like it has since the 2000s.

It can rely on the fact that dedicated fanboys love going there to experience the same thing over and over again, and the other fact that the average guest only goes to WDW once or a few times over the course of their life; so nearly everything they experience will appear new to them.

It's going to catch up with WDW when they start playing second fiddle. I would LOVE for WDW to be as ambitious and energetic as it was in the 80s and 90s, but they aren't anymore.

Disneyland has gotten so much love and will continue to get more love for it's 60th in a couple years.

WDW? Other than a mine train coaster, a new fireworks show to replace Wishes, and plenty of new bathrooms and real estate, don't expect to drool over anything new coming up.

The studios aren't even being touched for a few more years and if the plans they have stay true, you can expect a highly watered down version of carsland with a new star wars attraction as the park's saving grace to bring in more crowds.

Hey about that broken yeti and scaffolding over the tree of life and how IllumiNations is over 10 years old.....

 

[doctornick]

so what in the Magic Kingdom do you think they should be doing that would bring you back?

Building new rides or renovating/restoring old rides to keep them fresh and impressive. With theme parks, it's pretty simple that rides and attractions are the driver of attendence.

I'm someone who is generally supportive of the concept of NextGen, but even with that, I think it's a crime that TDO have let the parks stagnant so much with minimal development going on. There should be rides being build -- or having been already built -- in DAK and DHS already.

 

[WDWDad13]

I agree... we're not much different guys... I'm just for the NextGen whereas most are not. I believe good things are to come... I just wish it was sooner rather than later

 

[doctornick]

Okay, in a nutshell, here's what I don't get about NextGen:

So, Disney usually makes about $2.5 billion per year in revenue from Parks & Resorts. NextGen is supposed to increase spending on things like additional nights at the Resorts (at most), and (at the least) have visitors spend more on things like food and merchandise.

So, how much more do they think the average guest will spend per vacation? 5%? 10%?

Even if the average guest now spends 10% more per visit than they do now (which would be astronomical), that only adds $250 million per year of revenue. With an initial cost of $3 billion, that means it will take 12 years to re-coup the initial costs – and that doesn't even take into consideration the annual costs, which some have estimated at as much as $300 million per year.

So how could this possibly EVER turn a profit?

Good point.

At $1B, I could see how this could be viewed positively as a way to increase guest spending during a visit while also improving infrusture in a way that creates a more positive guest experience and keep guesting coming back (or keeping them on property longer). Plus, with improving the overall technology, it might make WDW more flexible in the future to adopting theoretical new technology down the road.

At $2-3B, though, it's just an albatross and sinkhole of money.

 

[devoy1701]

The average visitor to Orlando WILL see a change in how they vacation there with regards to where they spend their time and what they do.

Uni is shifting from the teenager park/glorified six-flags place people had been calling it for years to a well-established resort with high end dining, hotels, and attractions. They are moving at a feverish pace with more attractions, new lands, refurbished hotels and restaurant AND they still have more room to expand.

I'd enjoy splashing around at Wet-n-Wild while you still can.

Universal has altered their coarse and in doing so has strengthened their brand image of what a Universal park/resort is meant to be and in doing so will cause guest expectations at Universal to increase over the next 3 years.

In that same amount of time, SeaWorld will doing (in a less big way) their own refurbishments and expansions.

....but down I-4....WDW's focus is on data mining it's guests. They are more interested in data and hotel rooms (and they can't even fill their hotel rooms now because there are too many and not enough people staying on site).

There are those high up in the company that know something...wrong choice of word......ALOT....is wrong with WDW.

Many are now sticking their head in the sand because they know the train is going to derail.

While Uni and even SeaWorld shift to become more sensory-overload resorts with new attractions, better dining and shopping, etc...WDW trucks a long like it has since the 2000s.

It can rely on the fact that dedicated fanboys love going there to experience the same thing over and over again, and the other fact that the average guest only goes to WDW once or a few times over the coarse of their life, so nearly everything they experience will appear new to them.

It's going to catch up with WDW when they start playing second fiddle. I would LOVE for WDW to be as ambitious and energetic as it was in the 80s and 90s, but they aren't anymore.

Disneyland has gotten so much love and will continue to get more love for it's 60th in a couple years.

WDW? Other than a mine train coaster, a new fireworks show to replace wishes, and plenty of new bathrooms and real estate, don't expect to drool over anything new coming up.

The studios aren't even being touched for a few more years and if the plans they have stay true, you can expect a highly watered down versions of carsland with a star wars attraction as the park's saving grace to bring in more crowds.

Hey about that broken yeti and scaffolding over the tree of life.....

A few of us get it. Some refuse to see it. Most of WDW's visitors won't realize what's happening, but I have a feeling over the next 5 years, more and more will be saying "hey, Let's go on a vacation to Universal Orlando..." instead of saying that about WDW. How long 'til a Super Bowl MVP says "I'm Going to Universal!"

hey...@WDW1974, do you happen to have Eisner's personal email? Can you set up a conference call or something?

 

[tissandtully]

No.

Screw the yeti.

Now that would be an attraction.

 

[rodmansju]

for what its worth, the real screw up with NGE (from my project manager chair) is there was clearly no good beta testing.

some others indicated why not test at a smaller park--that could have worked too, yes. but in reality, something like this can be built in a "sandbox" and with few exceptions, fully vetted (hard to do for scale, but it can be hypotheiszed).

a lot of these bugs and over-runs...should have been caught before the overall project was greenlit, and thus they could have been addressed sooner (and cheaper).

if i was running a project, and i went 2+ billion over budget...i would certainly be looking for a new job, even if the overruns were no fault of mine.

i think what keeps this rolling, is that reports are based on the testing in parks thus far, people using the bands are spending more money. and thats really enough to keep going, in Disney's eyes.