Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[SirLink]

Both. Burbank are slowly seeing the bigger picture but moving at the speed a bloated, top heavy corporation typically moves at.

Gotcha. And WDI's cost structure no doubt about it is stopping execs seeing the damage at a quicker rate, right?

 

[fosse76]

On the orlando sentinel website today, Jason Garcia wrote an article talking about how Comcast announced today that they plan on speeding up spending on its uni parks (mainly at orlando and Hollywood). Comcast plans on boosting capital spending in parks division by 50% this year to $1.1 billion. Comcast made this announcement when they reported on Q2 earnings.
http://touch.orlandosentinel.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-76858402/

I think Comcast is seeing blood in the water and is going-in for the kill.

 

[ChrisFL]

I don't get how they keep getting more budget allocated to it? Are they simply using the line "well we've sunk this much into it...we only need a wee bit more..." What are the expenditures at now? Where have the cost overruns been?

They keep betting on the pretty race horse with the broken leg

 

[GrumpyFan]

It's interesting, there seem to be two camps on NGE.
1) It's a huge spaceship, getting ready to blast off on a grand and glorious journey to the stars
2) It's the equivalent of Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose getting ready to make its first official, and likely last flight

I'm optimistic and hoping for the first, but from everything I've read, I'm thinking it's going to wind up like the second option here, hopefully I'm wrong. However, if it does in fact fly like the Goose, I'm afraid Disney is going to do their best to turn it into the spaceship of the first option and try to get it on its journey, in which case, it will easily cost another billion $.

 

[fosse76]

Pool and hotel were both amazing. My Disney exec friend put it quite simply ''We have nothing that can compete with that product, just as we can't compete with the new Bonnet Creek resorts or the Ritz.''

I am very late for an appointment, but will discuss more tonight or tomorrow.

I stayed at Portofino Bay for the first time last week. It was only one night (I did a cost analysis of what I would be spending, and staying there 1 night was cheaper than 1 night at the ghetto Days Inn across the street while paying for 2 days of express passes). My only regret was not spending a little more time at the hotel itself, since it was absolute luxury (I had a water view...center of the Bay...$203 for the night). Disney's Deluxes can't touch this place.

I'm going to Universal again in September, but I have to "downgrade" to Royal Pacific. This time I will plan to spend a little bit of time at the hotel, at least.

 

[TarzanRocked99-]

I told myself I wasn't going to wade into yet another messy discussion of NGE, but couldn't resist the temptation. [Huge Sigh!] That, and I didn't want to cloud this discussion any further away from WDW1974s postings, there's just too much to try and read thru all of this to try and keep on top of. In reality, I think it would be best if this were part of a whole other discussion, but since it's not, I'm curious if anybody knows what the original pitch was for NGE? Why did they buy into it?

In the end it sounds like there was major scope creep on the project, and marketing jumped into the mix of it because they saw value in extracting the data.

I'm hoping that in a few more years there will be a new book published (a la, Disney War) by an insider that details this fiasco, because I'm really curious about it.

Regardless, reading thru much of the comments and the news today from OS on Comcast's spending future for UNI, it just casts a very very dark cloud over WDW right now, and it seems to be a cloud that's growing in size.

I can't give you exact time frames on when Next Gen was born, but I attended a high level ticketing focus group in late 2004 led by Michael Colglazier talking about the future of WDW and his Next Gen initiative.

 

[HenryMystic]

So @WDW1974 are you willing to revise your O-Town park rankings after your recent epiphany? Your last ranking brought me great sorrow with Epcot at #1.

 

[Mike C]

Taking speculation to the crazy point it appears this may be what is happening.
1. A light rail or "unirail" from the current Citywalk to Wet n Wild
2. Continuing on the Lockheed land area where the second resort may be, with the 3rd gate + more.
3. Also doubles as transport to the convention center, which suddenly opens up the entire resort to convention goers and I-Drive hotels as well. (The Orange County Convention Center is the 2nd largest in the US)

If that is true then that is incredibly aggressive, and awesome.

 

[Figments Friend]

Can someone remind me to discuss show lighting at EPCOT, soda thievery and why self flushing toilets aren't all that too?

Thanks and I look forward to a great discussion ...

Here is your reminder....i would enjoy talking about Show Lighting at EPCOT.



Choose a Pavilion/attraction/Show....and let's get this ball rolling.

 

[njDizFan]

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?

it's not just the 10% more you will spend when at the parks...its the data they can collect and then direct market to you and your family when you get home. also possibly all the information they can give to their "affiliates".

 

[flynnibus]

Or the return of the "Disney Difference"?

That too I can't respect the competition chasing disney and closing that gap - but the style of vacation I blame Disney for promoting (and abandoning...)

 

[luv]

Goodness! 16 pages already!

Pool and hotel were both amazing. My Disney exec friend put it quite simply ''We have nothing that can compete with that product, just as we can't compete with the new Bonnet Creek resorts or the Ritz.''

I've said this before, but they aren't even trying to compete with Uni on hotels. They quite literally don't even try.

 

[flynnibus]

I believe a Uni bubble exist as well, just that most of us have not experienced it. For the first time ever I stayed at Universal last fall instead of at WDW and it was an amazing experience. I have been a Universal passholder for almost 10 years now but never treated the resort the way I did when we stayed on site for two nights. Complete and total escapism something I haven't felt at WDW for years, but still feel when at DL. Sure the resort is smaller, but that's kind of the charm of it you don't have to bus anywhere you can walk or take a boat there's plenty of shopping, nightlife, miniature golf everything Disney World has put in a nice neat little package.

Royal Pacific was nice - but it felt like most other convention hotels I've stayed in over the years. Driven mainly by the pricing models.

There used to be a time when visiting a RESORT meant amenities... for its guests to enjoy as part of their stay. Now a days, its more paid opportunities everywhere you look.. jacked up pricing.. etc. Royal Pacific really felt tuned to the convention crowd. Besides the tropic theme, it felt on par with the Gaylord, and Peabody, etc out in town.

Escapism just isn't about staying within a border - it's about changing what's around you and the pace. It's the difference between Virginia Beach and the Delaware Seashore.. both are the beach, but they are nothing alike.

 

[Cardinals314]

It seems like when UNI announces an upcoming addition to the park, they actually get to work on it. Disney has sat with Avatar for two years and they are now moving FotLK. UNI has made a lot of progress with HP 2.0 and it is looking good.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

It is easy to see why Comcast is spending so much money in the Parks. Comcast saw what Harry Potter did for IOA at a time that WDW is under terrible management.

Yes, I called TDO terrible Management for a reason. Problems at WDW started either at Enchanted Tiki Room under new management or under the first replacement of Imagination. TDO has no problems adding restaurants and DVC's, but they don't like to Spend money on attractions without Burbank forcing them to.

Here is 6 examples of bad management by TDO:

1.) AK having no new attractions after Expedition Everest and nothing announced from Everest opening in 2006 to Avatar announced in 2011. That is a big problem for a park that was only 8 years old in 2006 with a lot of land.

2.) The handling of the Imagination Pavilion since the original Imagination was closed.

3.) TDO didn't green lit Monster Inc. Door Coaster in 2008 because it was too "expensive" for them, but has no problems spending 3 billion dollars and more on Nextgen currently. That meant TDO hurt DHS long term.

4.) The Handling of Downtown Disney. Pleasure Island was closed in 2008 and Hyperion Warf was announced. Hyperion Warf was canceled due to factors like not able to find venders. almost 5 years after Pleasure Island was closed, Disney Springs was announced. The fact it took 5 years to put stuff in an area that was closed proved that is was a sign of poor management.

5.) TDO not doing anything to fix major problems at DHS before this year. Backlot Tour has been a problem for a very long time. Fantasmic didn't get any upgrades unlike the Disneyland version due to cost. There also is TDO not addressing attractions that need to be updated like the Great Movie Ride also.

6.) The handling of Future World in Epcot. Universe of Energy is an aging attraction, Innoventions is much worse compare to 15 years ago,Imagination is a mess, but TDO has no problems of adding food places in World Showcase.

 

[Funmeister]

You mean just like go.com

It is amazing that go.com is even still around...well...sort of.

 

[devoy1701]

It is amazing that go.com is even still around...well...sort of.

I can't believe they won't let go of go.com...

That's the future of NexGen!

 

[flynnibus]

everytime I load espn and it redirects to espn.go.com - millions are reminded of the types of gaffs that was Disney in the 90s/00s

 

[aladdin2007]

It is easy to see why Comcast is spending so much money in the Parks. Comcast saw what Harry Potter did for IOA at a time that WDW is under terrible management.

Yes, I called TDO terrible Management for a reason. Problems at WDW started either at Enchanted Tiki Room under new Imagination or under the first replacement of Imagination. TDO has no problems adding restaurants and DVC's, but they don't like to Spend money on attractions without Burbank forcing them to.

Here is 6 examples of bad management by TDO:

1.) AK having no new attractions after Expedition Everest and nothing announced from Everest opening in 2006 to Avatar announced in 2011. That is a big problem for a park that was only 8 years old in 2006 with a lot of land.

2.) The handling of the Imagination Pavilion since the original Imagination was closed.

3.) TDO didn't green lit Monster Inc. Door Coaster in 2008 because it was too "expensive" for them, but has no problems spending 3 billion dollars and more on Nextgen currently. That meant TDO hurt DHS long term.

4.) The Handling of Downtown Disney. Pleasure Island was closed in 2008 and Hyperion Warf was announced. Hyperion Warf was canceled due to factors like not able to find venders. almost 5 years after Pleasure Island was closed, Disney Springs was announced. The fact it took 5 years to put stuff in an area that was closed proved that is was a sign of poor management.

5.) TDO not doing anything to fix major problems at DHS before this year. Backlot Tour has been a problem for a very time. Fantasmic didn't get any upgrades unlike the Disneyland version due to cost. There also is TDO not addressing attractions that need to be updated like the Great Movie Ride also.

6.) The handling of Future World in Epcot. Universe of Energy is an aging attraction, Innoventions is much worse compare to 15 years ago,Imagination is a mess, but TDO has no problems of adding food places in World Showcase.

I agree with all of that myself, TDO is nothing but a real estate/mall company looking to add only rooms and booze and food and merch wherever they can, and spending friviously on all this tech mess. Attractions now take a back seat if even that, much further back. It takes Burbank to kick their goofy rumps to get anything new, and even that is not what it should be.

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

Just wanted to back up the original poster a few pages back that stated that planned MyMagic+ elements have been scrapped. Mostly those that enabled Cast Members, from afar, to pull up Guest's names and photos amid the justified backlash that arose here earlier this year with privacy/COPPA.

What is ultimately holding up MM+ is FastPass and park admission as well as legacy systems and departments that have never communicated to one another and are now forced to coexist. There are good intentions with the project, but Disney really just needs I close for a few weeks instead of slowly rolling things out.