Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

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TalkingHead

TalkingHead

Well-Known Member
nytimez said:
Oh, I get getting out of the parks and doing other things. I get the water sports and horseback riding, not everyone has access to those things at home.

I just don't get it when the other thing is mini golf or bowling that you can do at home. Even if they're "better" at WDW or Uni, I just don't see how it can be that much of an upgrade from what most people have access to at home to make it worthwhile.

I also don't understand why people would fly to Orlando, spend zillions on park tickets and hotels and then go to the movies. But, people do.

To each his own, I guess.
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If I traveled to Anaheim and Disneyland had mini golf, I doubt I'd play. But I could see how it's the kind of thing that would appeal to locals -- especially with the setup at Universal with the courses right next to CityWalk which attracts locals to begin with.
 
nytimez

nytimez

Well-Known Member
Funmeister said:
So, being a world class resort...would you ever stay at a WDW resort without going to the parks? If so...what would you do for fun?
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Not a chance in the world. I think you'd have to be nuts to stay in a Disney hotel if you're not going into the parks.

Take away the parks, and there's nothing "world class" about the resorts. The only one I think I'd visit if it was removed from Orlando and plopped down somewhere else entirely is AKL.
 
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Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Magenta Panther said:
You know, I'd be all for keeping Star Wars going if the prequels hadn't sucked giant North American beaver cojones, if I may be so blunt. Plus, the new SW characters are crappy compared to the originals. None of the new guys can compare to Leia, Han, Luke, Chewbacca, and Vader. Once they were out of the picture, most of the humanity, warmth and humor went with them. I cared about SW mostly because I cared about what happened to those guys. Without them, who needs it?
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Just think of it this way: there's no possible way JJ Abrams can ruin the franchise any further than Lucas already has. I have faith in JJ Abrams. Even if his Star Trek movies are "Star Trek movies for people who don't like Star Trek", they are still infinitely better than the Star Wars prequels.
LuvtheGoof said:
We were at Citywalk just this past Saturday afternoon, and we saw one person there. Didn't seem very popular.
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Its more popular at night, when the parks are closed. The courses were pretty much designed for night time with all of their lighting effects, anyway.
 
GLaDOS

GLaDOS

Well-Known Member
Funmeister said:
So, being a world class resort...would you ever stay at a WDW resort without going to the parks? If so...what would you do for fun?
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Honestly? I could probably do it for maybe a 4 day weekend if staying at a resort of moderate level or above. One day at the resort eating, pool time, drinks at night in the lounge. Another day touring other resorts with a night at the Boardwalk for Jellyrolls. One day for some water sports. Maybe a round of golf. A night of minigolf. Do La Nouba or a movie. Do a monorail resort bar crawl.

I think it's definitely doable. Not some thing I would do, but definitely not impossible.
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
nytimez said:
I've never understood the idea of going to WDW or Uni and then doing mini golf. Or going bowling, for that matter. But that's just me...
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Obviously, you have never gone with any kids about 9 to 12 years old. You could offer them the best that there is in the form of entertainment and there will be two things that will be more popular then, say theme parks. That would be, in this order...any pool, anywhere and then mini golf. Theme parks will overtake, just barely, bowling, no matter it will definitely will be in their top 5. :joyfull:
 
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Lee

Lee

Adventurer
ParentsOf4 said:
Feeding into The Spirit's narrative, how about this?

It wasn’t until I read The Walt Disney Company Q3 earnings call transcript that I realized what a nice snow job Iger & Rasulo had achieved with WDW attendance.

Initially CFO Jay Rasulo reported:

“During the quarter, attendance at our domestic parks was up 3%, with Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort each setting new Q3 attendance records”

Sounds great right? Record attendance, awesome right? At both WDW and DLR, right? But what exactly is does that mean?

When asked to expand on park trends, CEO Bob Iger let the cat out of the bag:

“Magic Kingdom in Florida had record numbers, as Jay mentioned, in the third quarter.”

Rasulo didn’t say “Magic Kingdom”, he said “Walt Disney World”. The Magic Kingdom is part of Walt Disney World so, in a sense, the Magic Kingdom setting an attendance record means Walt Disney World set some sort of attendance record but did Walt Disney World as a whole? It doesn’t seem so according to Iger who clearly identified the Magic Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom only. In fact, in his fuller answer to the question, Iger only spoke of the “Magic Kingdom”, never “Walt Disney World”.

Iger’s words align with observations. Guests reported tremendous crowds at MK last quarter but considerably less so at the other theme parks, especially during the latter half of the day.

And that’s WDW’s big problem. Attendance has become horribly lopsided with the other parks, particularly DHS, suffering badly as a result. MK is cannibalizing attendance from its own parks; not bringing new guests to WDW as a whole. WDW has the same problem today that DLR had 2 years ago.

Don’t forget that DLR attendance is up, way up. Carsland opened on June 15, 2012 and the quarter being reported ran from April to June. As it so happens, this was the last quarter with the “Carsland bump”. If combined domestic park attendance was up only 3% for the quarter and this was the last quarter with the “Carsland bump”, what exactly is going on at WDW?

Let’s not forget domestic park revenue was up only 7% for the quarter, and that’s with the “Carsland bump”, higher prices (e.g. MYW tickets up 7%, DDP up 12.5%), and the Flower & Garden Festival being transformed into another revenue-generating booze & food fest.

This is consistent with the premium now charged for Magic Kingdom tickets. If all four parks were performing well, why not have an across-the-board price increase?

It’s difficult to dispute that the Magic Kingdom is Orlando’s most popular park.

However, perhaps all is not well at the rest of WDW. Perhaps The Spirit’s latest news concerning DHS is supported by Iger’s & Rasulo’s attempt to paper over WDW’s institutional problems.

Perhaps Iger & Rasulo have a big mess on their hands in Orlando.
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Boom!
ParentsOf4 just dropped some truth. Nailed it.
 
Nubs70

Nubs70

Well-Known Member
Bolna said:
Try growing up somewhere that was 10 miles from the iron curtain - knowing that you would in any case behind the line of first defence (which was at the Rhine) in case of a Soviet invasion...
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Did you live in the Fulda Gap?
 
stevehousse

stevehousse

Well-Known Member
In regards to MM+ and FP+ and park hopping; spirit had said this in talk 3 I think, but wdw wants to try and put a limit to park hopping or make it hard to do so because they NEED people to stay in the other 3 parks for the whole day! If you are there for half a day and then park hop somehwre else, chances are you aren't spending money like they want you too.

Limiting FP+ to one park a day will "make" you stay at that park longer...

And like someone else had stated, I haven't park hopped in th last 5 years because of my kids. Ages 2 and 5, and park hopping is not ideal with little ones.
 
Darth Sidious

Darth Sidious

Authentically Disney Distinctly Chinese
CinematicFusion said:
I agree, Star Wars was never sci-fi. It was Greek myth taking place in outer space. It's pure escapism and it hit the theaters at a time in 1977 that America needed to escape. It even opens up as a fantasy. A long time ago...in a galaxy far away.

Lucas made the Disney movie that Disney in the 70's couldn't make.

Star Wars is not sci-fi...it is complete fantasy.
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Space Western
 
JenniferS

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
nytimez said:
Oh, I get getting out of the parks and doing other things. I get the water sports and horseback riding, not everyone has access to those things at home.

I just don't get it when the other thing is mini golf or bowling that you can do at home. Even if they're "better" at WDW or Uni, I just don't see how it can be that much of an upgrade from what most people have access to at home to make it worthwhile.

I also don't understand why people would fly to Orlando, spend zillions on park tickets and hotels and then go to the movies. But, people do.

To each his own, I guess.
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Sometimes going bowling or to the movies is weather-related.

In our case, however, we were in Orlando for 13 days, but only had 10 day Park Hoppers; ergo we had three "down days". We took the kids to see Elf at DTD, had a late lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express, and hung out at Quest for a few hours. All in all, it was a lovely non-park day.
 
tirian

tirian

Well-Known Member
Exactly.

Uni has successfully drawn crowds away from DHS, DAK, and to some extent Epcot. There's a reason Burbank is suddenly keen to renovate DHS and Epcot pavilions.


ParentsOf4 said:
Feeding into The Spirit's narrative, how about this?

It wasn’t until I read The Walt Disney Company Q3 earnings call transcript that I realized what a nice snow job Iger & Rasulo had achieved with WDW attendance.

Initially CFO Jay Rasulo reported:

“During the quarter, attendance at our domestic parks was up 3%, with Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort each setting new Q3 attendance records”

Sounds great right? Record attendance, awesome right? At both WDW and DLR, right? But what exactly is does that mean?

When asked to expand on park trends, CEO Bob Iger let the cat out of the bag:

“Magic Kingdom in Florida had record numbers, as Jay mentioned, in the third quarter.”

Rasulo didn’t say “Magic Kingdom”, he said “Walt Disney World”. The Magic Kingdom is part of Walt Disney World so, in a sense, the Magic Kingdom setting an attendance record means Walt Disney World set some sort of attendance record but did Walt Disney World as a whole? It doesn’t seem so according to Iger who clearly identified the Magic Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom only. In fact, in his fuller answer to the question, Iger only spoke of the “Magic Kingdom”, never “Walt Disney World”.

Iger’s words align with observations. Guests reported tremendous crowds at MK last quarter but considerably less so at the other theme parks, especially during the latter half of the day.

And that’s WDW’s big problem. Attendance has become horribly lopsided with the other parks, particularly DHS, suffering badly as a result. MK is cannibalizing attendance from its own parks; not bringing new guests to WDW as a whole. WDW has the same problem today that DLR had 2 years ago.

Don’t forget that DLR attendance is up, way up. Carsland opened on June 15, 2012 and the quarter being reported ran from April to June. As it so happens, this was the last quarter with the “Carsland bump”. If combined domestic park attendance was up only 3% for the quarter and this was the last quarter with the “Carsland bump”, what exactly is going on at WDW?

Let’s not forget domestic park revenue was up only 7% for the quarter, and that’s with the “Carsland bump”, higher prices (e.g. MYW tickets up 7%, DDP up 12.5%), and the Flower & Garden Festival being transformed into another revenue-generating booze & food fest.

This is consistent with the premium now charged for Magic Kingdom tickets. If all four parks were performing well, why not have an across-the-board price increase?

It’s difficult to dispute that the Magic Kingdom is Orlando’s most popular park.

However, perhaps all is not well at the rest of WDW. Perhaps The Spirit’s latest news concerning DHS is supported by Iger’s & Rasulo’s attempt to paper over WDW’s institutional problems.

Perhaps Iger & Rasulo have a big mess on their hands in Orlando.
Click to expand...
 
tirian

tirian

Well-Known Member
Funmeister said:
So the problem has been established. What are the best and worst case scenarios?
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Best:
Disney quickly renovates DHS with the planned entrance redesign, Star Wars section, and new icon (!). They also rip out the existing Imagination track and install the first trackless Disney dark ride in America (Other than the GMR). Then they finally start construction at DAK. Long-term: new country in Epcot and a new Frontierland at the MK.

Worst:
NextGen's budget overrun and lack of ROI destroy WDW's expansion plans. While Universal deftly adds attractions and beats Disney to a long-awaited boutique park (the Uni version of Discovery Cove), bloated WDI stops Disney from reacting quickly enough in Florida. The MK will continue to draw crowds but the other will parks will keep losing attendance to Potter and the third gate.

Reality: somewhere in between. Several parks have happily coexisted in California for years; it's time for friendly competition in Florida.

Edit: one more problem—Disney seems to have finally out-priced the majority of its hotel guests. Most Deluxe and Moderate reservations are now booked on significant bounce-back discounts and other offers.
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
tirian said:
Best:
Disney quickly renovates DHS with the planned entrance redesign, Star Wars section, and new icon (!). They also rip out the existing Imagination track and install the first trackless Disney dark ride in America (Other than the GMR).
Click to expand...
Well, there's GMR, and ToT and UoE and Dinosaurs and Indiana Jones in DL and Spiderman in Uni...there's probably others that I have forgotten. :)
 
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