unkadug
Follower of "Saget"The Cult
most definitely
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Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV
- Thread starter WDW1974
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Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
WDW may still be packing the parks, but you have to wonder, how long can they coast on past reputation and filling the rest with Brazil, Argentina, and various other foreigners that really have no clue what they're even getting themselves into?
You never really used to hear these opinions, but outside of the diehard Disney park fan communities, the public perception of "WDW > Universal" is shifting. The public is becoming aware of the stale product WDW is offering.
On my last visit to UNI, while walking out with everyone mass exiting to the parking garages, I overheard several families talking about how much more fun it was than Disney. Not teenagers and young adults, mind you, but parents with younger children probably in the 8 to 11 range.
You never really used to hear these opinions, but outside of the diehard Disney park fan communities, the public perception of "WDW > Universal" is shifting. The public is becoming aware of the stale product WDW is offering.
Soarin' Over Pgh
Well-Known Member
Didn't read the last four pages and don't care to.
@WDW1974 do you happen to know the budget for the Star Wars movie(s) and where they're clocking in with, in terms of future marketing?
I just saw a killer clip for Thor 2 and I'm rather impressed by the looks of it. Any idea if next years movies are going to have such huge budgets as the ones this year that all kinda went out with a whisper instead of a roar?
@WDW1974 do you happen to know the budget for the Star Wars movie(s) and where they're clocking in with, in terms of future marketing?
I just saw a killer clip for Thor 2 and I'm rather impressed by the looks of it. Any idea if next years movies are going to have such huge budgets as the ones this year that all kinda went out with a whisper instead of a roar?
unkadug
Follower of "Saget"The Cult
More and more traditional newspapers are having to rethink their whole business model in order to survive in the information age.
I signed up for the free reads...I'm really not helping their cause much.
They've had that for a while, at least when we've tried to access the site here locally. Maybe it was a test? Can they control a geographical region that would come up against the pay wall in a testing phase or anything?
I figured you would know if something like that is even possible.
ETA: the San Francisco Chronicle just dropped their paywall. You know other papers who are using one are not happy bc eventually they will be forced to do the same.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Captain Neo
Well-Known Member
Well at least some good will come of it...maybe
flynnibus
Premium Member
Yes, there are a few ways to implement such restrictions based on where the request is coming from. It's possible to do this broadly, but hard to do it with exacting precision. Geolocation for IP networks is decent, but not always precise for legitimate reasons (imagine your company's handoff to the public internet is somewhere distant from your actual office, etc)
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Probably not. If I were to guess, many of the other components of NextGen were attached to the infrastructure upgrades to make them more than an expensive expense. Instead of accepting a costs of business, Disney for years now has improved numbers by cutting whatever. I would imagine down the road Walt Disney World will again need to upgrade this infrastructure which has become too old and there will be another attempt to monetize the expense.
Nubs70
Well-Known Member
However, the capital expenditure and payback seems to be in conflict with traditional investment expectations.
1023
Provocateur, Rancanteur, Plaisanter, du Jour
Thanks for the read from January.
Nubs70
Well-Known Member
Not if the project manager is worth a crap.Hopefully new monorails are being slipped in under misc. supplies on the budget...
So, please don't say you're surprised by Jason Garcia's PR for WDW. He is a weak pathetic excuse for a beat reporter, but this is 2013, that is the Sentinel and he's probably thrilled that he can bring home $47k plus benefits, while so many in the field are unemployed.
Oh, and the idea that he doesn't troll this forum (and others) is laughable ...as was his 'piece'.
But rest assured TDO and CP are quite pleased with it ...and, really, that's what matters. Just a sorry excuse for a reporter.
Oh, and the idea that he doesn't troll this forum (and others) is laughable ...as was his 'piece'.
But rest assured TDO and CP are quite pleased with it ...and, really, that's what matters. Just a sorry excuse for a reporter.
PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
So. As someone who worked in that industry....
First.... theyre not giant profit centers anymore. Tribune made insane profits 20 years ago, but guess what.. that was 20 years ago. Times change. They got hooked on those profits, didnt reinvest in the companies and started making BAD business decisions. (See "Zell, Sam")
Then thought technology would save them. They thought that getting page views, hits, clicks, by throwing crap at a wall - giant photo galleries of bikini clad women, sorority girls, entertainment fluff and cheerleaders would somehow get people to want to support their business.
They also somehow believe that video would save them. We have to do video of everything.
It backfired.
The only way you're going to survive in journalism is quality. You have to cover your community and your beat better than anyone else. If you can get a 10% profit for the year? Great. Thats your goal. You have to find a way to sell ads or fund your paper somehow.
If you have a quality product, then you stand a giant chance of getting advertising. If you don't, well you'll eventually lose market share and customers.
How does this apply to WDW?
Simple. Two things.
First - The mentality of "The Guests Will Always Come." Same with the earth is flat & the divine right of kings and the newspaper's thoughts of "Our Profits will always be this way"..... Things will change.
Second - You need a quality product. The guests will not always come unless you give them a quality product. You cant get them to be a returning customer unless you give them great value for a quality product.
You can talk branding, leveraging properties and all sorts of other BS marketing and business terms until you are blue in the face. None of that means CRAP unless you can put out a quality product better than your competition.
Disney needs to be focusing their P&R division to putting a better, higher quality product than your competition. They need to do it right. That is what will drive their profits.
Reinvestment and quality is what will take their "Mature Business" and stimulate it.
You want 50-55 million guests a year visiting Walt Disney World? Want the rooms full? Do it right. Reinvest. Focus on quality.
We've seen what a quarterly profit focused business model has done. We've seen what milking every nickle and dime out of the guests has done. We've seen what discounted rooms, free dining, gimmicks and limited time magic have left us with. They're losing market share. They're losing focus.
As for Wall Street? Do you want a small profit over one quarter or do you want long term results? Do you want an insane profit in five years that lasts many years or do you want beer money today thats gone tomorrow?
Give people a reason to want to be associated with your business. Give them a reason to invest or be a corporate partner.
Clamman73
Well-Known Member
Just got back from a one night stay at POP with the DW. Guess what we got to test? MM+! I will be happy to take any questions but here are my brief thoughts...
If I hadn't had prior knowledge of the system, this could have been a total nightmare. When we checked in it was a madhouse. Guests were complaining, managers were getting snippy. I am not making this up just for th Spirit, but I swear the guest checking in next to us told the manager that the service at UNI was better. It was quite obvious that most were confused by the bands.
As for us, couple with no kids and smartphones, it was actually kind of cool. We were immediately able to make 4 FP+ reservations for MK that night. Space, Splash, Thunder, and PP. Now, I'll never tell if we also got paper passes with our AP actual cards
All in all, it kind of ruled.
For us.
For a family of 6........
Maybe not so much.
Free to answer any questions about Our Disney Experience
Well that is the whole problem with this...It's like they just threw the frog in the boiling water instead of just turning up the heat slowly...They just should have made entry points RFID enabled first, then eventually the pay systems and then fastpass so guests and Disney themselves slowly get a grip on the whole thing.
Absolutely. It's an arrogance based on decades of earning that trust be people who are either dead or no longer with the company. In many ways it is no different than the arrogance displayed by the government of the USA.
A 'how dear you question us' 'tude that is highly misplaced.
I know enough about how Bob Iger conducts business to not trust him if he says the world is round.
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