Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[RSoxNo1]

Did you actually read Jurassic Park?

Steven Spielberg wrote a book about Jurassic Park too? Is Jeff Goldblum in the book?

 

[ScoutN]

Twitter exchange between me and the Hotel Del Coronado:
Me: The Hotel del Coronado in San Diego totally ripped off the Grand Floridian pic.twitter.com/DwSPE7BuMQ
Hotel Del Coronado: We were built first in 1888 .
Me: Just because you predated Disney by 100 years doesn't meant you didn't copy them

And cheaper than its knockoff.

 

[flynnibus]

Not entirely true. Your coverage with CVS Caremark may let you go anywhere you'd like, as does mine. Having worked in an independent pharmacy for a few years during college, I can tell you for certain they will let you fill twice out in any pharmacy then require mail order which they consider CVS. Aside from policies that force mail order, they price other pharmacies out by refusing to pay for 3-month supplies and making themselves the only pharmacy that can. There are hundreds of policies for CVS but many of them do this. However, you can get one that doesn't. Some states have passed legislation against these practices as well. New York has not.

Like you said - requiring mail order for 3m supplies is not unique to cvs. In fact, memory failing I think every provider I've ever had did that. I've never had a script I couldn't fill at our Walgreens or grocery stores.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I'd be WAY more interested in the cast members, both front line and management, who have been pulled off duty and into meetings with rather scary types to discuss their activities on the portal and also their interactions in social media and online fan forums such as this one.

Don't say I didn't give a friendly warning to all the insiders out there. This business of spreading news and rumors around about the Walt Disney Company ain't as harmless as it used to be.

First, good to know on that. I'll pass that on to my CM friends.

And frankly, I don't like being told I don't have a life on a Disney message board by a CM. that rubs me wrong, o yee of the little paycheck.

 

[flynnibus]

There really was nothing better to do here and the weird "corporate town" culture that Orlando has that runs through guests and cast members alike made the Villains overcrowding fiasco predictable from miles away.

Seriously, give a bunch of cast members and APs with no lives and separate cars a reason to go to DHS for the night and they will make its parking lot cry. It's what Universal goes through with Halloween Horror Nights every night they operate it.

If that alone were the case then why aren't the parks packed every Friday night? And why is limited time magic such a dud?

Content is king. And how often do we hear of fans on here wishing they had more ways of spending money at an event?

The parking lot crowding is just a tangent. A problem that tdo failed to account for probably but is irrelevant if no one is showing up to start with

 

[flynnibus]

I know you like to criticize every post, but this was sarcasm. .

Not your strong point..

 

[KevinYee]

Most Limited Time Magic offerings are *extremely* inexpensive to create, produce, and advertise. We're talking in the hundreds of dollars per week. The soda sales from a single fast food location for a single hour probably could pay that kind of bill.

Villains Unleashed cost a lot more money than usual with the stage show alone... and then factor in the hugely expensive fireworks show. Didn't I hear reports that it was tested a day or so ahead of time in the afterhours? If so, that's still more cost. This is part of why I think it was a test of the market. Disney doesn't usually spend money for no reason (the "other" LTM offerings being case in point).

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Not your strong point..

The Socks are saying that the LA auditorium took its design from DHS. Not that DCA took it.

The latter would be a lame (non)joke. The former is witty banter.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

ermmm..what post # is sue's?

The mods quickly removed it. There are kids watching!

I got the pictures stored on my harddrive though. For a $50 gift card they're yours...

 

[WDWDad13]

bring on Villainsland in DHS

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Most Limited Time Magic offerings are *extremely* inexpensive to create, produce, and advertise. We're talking in the hundreds of dollars per week. The soda sales from a single fast food location for a single hour probably could pay that kind of bill.

Villains Unleashed cost a lot more money than usual with the stage show alone... and then factor in the hugely expensive fireworks show. Didn't I hear reports that it was tested a day or so ahead of time in the afterhours? If so, that's still more cost. This is part of why I think it was a test of the market. Disney doesn't usually spend money for no reason (the "other" LTM offerings being case in point).

Well I think it's a bit more than a few hundred dollars a week. A few hundred dollars a week is what I get paid to scour the social media and attack people who discredit TDO.

I think you are spot on about the experimental aspect of LTM. A fantastic opportunity for TWC to try some stuff. Could it be that they have a select few concepts they wish to try out and fill the rest of LTM with cheap fillers?

Wish they would've tried out some more experimental stuff though! Surely creative exploration of what can be done with Disney parks shouldn't be limited to night events and b-celebrity fur characters?

 

[jt04]

That's the thing that puzzles me. If Iger wants to avoid following Eisner's footsteps why the heck is he keeping the Strategic Planning Guys in power. It seems as though Iger is amplifying Eisner's mistakes and hurting the things Eisner actually got right though unlike Eisner he at least will have a much shorter reign but not short enough to minimize damages.

I am convinced his only priority was to fix the company to ensure its long term survival. When he succeeds the next CEO will have the luxury of being able to emphasize creative aspects and take more risks. Could be Universal is trying to get ahead of that wave. Probably a good idea.

 

[Mr Bill]

I can buy the "few hundred dollars a week" claim. Especially when some of the promotions have been nothing more than "Here's a thing that's now for sale" and many others are little more than glorified meet and greets.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Twitter exchange between me and the Hotel Del Coronado:
Me: The Hotel del Coronado in San Diego totally ripped off the Grand Floridian pic.twitter.com/DwSPE7BuMQ
Hotel Del Coronado: We were built first in 1888 .
Me: Just because you predated Disney by 100 years doesn't meant you didn't copy them

LOL - I'm sure they got a good laugh out of that. There's nothing like the Hotel Del - it's absolutely stunning, 125 years later.

 

[nytimez]

I can buy the "few hundred dollars a week" claim. Especially when some of the promotions have been nothing more than "Here's a thing that's now for sale" and many others are little more than glorified meet and greets.

Here are guys who are already scheduled to sing in the park multiple times a day, every day, singing a different set of songs.

 

[ford91exploder]

LOL - I'm sure they got a good laugh out of that. There's nothing like the Hotel Del - it's absolutely stunning, 125 years later.

It's truly awesome hotel and costs FAR less to stay at than the GF, The Governors suite is out of my price range however...

 

[luv]

bring on Villainsland in DHS

Theres an idea I could cheer! Much better than Star Wars, Avatar or Cars. Fun!

 

[MOXOMUMD]

Looks like the stage at DHS has been taken down. But they left some strange metal structure with some plants underneath it in the stage's spot.

??

 

[AEfx]

I have this theory: Disney is basically Microsoft circa 2007.

Remember when the first iPhone was released, and signaled a huge shift toward mobile devices and away from the PC market that Microsoft has dominated since forever? Remember how Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer reacted? He laughed at it. He laughed and said that Microsoft was very happy with their mobile strategy, thank you very much. And then his company proceeded to merrily sit on their hands and do nothing while Apple, and then Google, proceeded to eat their lunch. Microsoft, with all its money and resources, was incapable of understanding that their industry was undergoing a major paradigm shift. And by the time they finally realized it, it was too late. The only company more clueless is Blackberry-they still think people want smartphones with tiny screens and physical keyboards.

Like Microsoft, Disney's corporate culture makes it unable to understand the threat that Universal's parks-and-resorts business poses to them. They're about to have their lunch eaten. And they won't even realize it until after it happens. If they ever do at all.

That is PRECISELY what is happening.

It's hard to tell if it's more sad, pathetic, or infuriating.

 

[Turtle]

Planes may or may not be good, but it has made over $80 million in the USA alone and will be a BIG money-maker for the company ... Not to mention the loads of merchandise it has sold. Putting it in the theaters was a very smart movie.

I thought Cars 2 was fine, for a children's film. Better than most critics give it credit for, but still not very good.
Brave was such a chop job that it is amazing it wound up as good as it did. But also, a kids film.

Pixar from 1995-2009 made great films for all audiences, not kids films.

Planes was not Pixar. 1995-2010. Toy Story 3 was in 2010.