Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[stevehousse]

Moving along to things worth actually discussing, Spirit have you heard any comments from upper management about FP+ and park hopping? You would think the first thing that would come to mind before starting this whole new experience is the loss renevue on people not paying for park hopping ticket add ons when this new system completely hinders that experience???

 

[Skip]

2) there rides are constantly changing, sure that might be great to some.... but is the material that they are replacing it with good or even at the level of what came before

Have you even been to Universal? I'll concede Fear Factor Live and Shrek 4D pale in comparison to their predecessors, but Despicable Me exceeds both Neutron and Hanna-Barbara in its execution. Disaster! is miles ahead of Earthquake. I don't think anyone shed tears when Beetlejuice replaced the American Tale theater. Mummy is a worthy successor to Kong, as is Simpsons to BTTF (IMO).

But since you brought up replacement attraction quality... was Stitch's Great Escape better than Alien Encounter? MILF better than Timekeeper? Mission: Space than Horizons, Journey Into Imagination 3.0 than 1.0, Test Track v. World of Motion? That argument swings both ways, and frankly Disney's the one that seems to come away with more misses...

 

[WDW1974]

Whatever happened to Larry Nikolai?

Still im Anaheim as far as I know.

 

[WDW1974]

Spirit, can Disney still make films under the Touchstone brand along with their deal with DreamWorks or would that not be kosher?

They can.

They will not. But they can.

 

[Captain Neo]

What? How? Iron Man is an incredibly popular attraction that will bring people from all over the world, I don't understand how it makes sense to stop a project like that in any circumstance.

Probably good ol'fashion WDI politics. Somebody didn't like somebody else's project getting greenlit and threw them under the bus.

 

[WDW1974]

Moving along to things worth actually discussing, Spirit have you heard any comments from upper management about FP+ and park hopping? You would think the first thing that would come to mind before starting this whole new experience is the loss renevue on people not paying for park hopping ticket add ons when this new system completely hinders that experience???

TDO wants to curtail park hopping especially to MK. MM+ is partly designed to do so. If you have FP's for ToT, TSMM and Fantasmic you won't be leaving. That helps pop upnumbers at the other three gates that need it.

 

[TalkingHead]

TDO wants to curtail park hopping especially to MK. MM+ is partly designed to do so. If you have FP'sfor ToT, TSMM and Fantasmic you won,t be leaving. That he,ps poop JP numbers at the other three gates that need it.

Sounds like management is willing to sacrifice the hopper upcharge in order to distribute the crowds across the "lesser" parks.

When/how does NGE start increasing profits again...?

 

[RyenDeckard]

Sounds like management is willing to sacrifice the hopper upcharge in order to distribute the crowds across the "lesser" parks.

When/how does NGE start increasing profits again...?

The idea is that by making it easier to spend money without realizing you are spending money, you will spend more money.

Using the band to pay for everything disconnects you from your normal spending habits, as most people won't associate the band with real money. It's the same idea behind credit cards.

How successful it will be, is still to be determined. But a 3 billion dollar investment is massive for any project, let alone one that may only marginally increase profits.

 

[stevehousse]

TDO wants to curtail park hopping especially to MK. MM+ is partly designed to do so. If you have FP'sfor ToT, TSMM and Fantasmic you won,t be leaving. That he,ps poop JP numbers at the other three gates that need it.

So do you think they will eventually eliminate park hopping tickets? I really wonder how much loss revenue will come about by trying to put an end to it, or hinder its uses greatly if they stay...

I do have to wonder if another reason is because they have guests spending almost an hour getting from one park to the next and not being able to spend money during that whole process???

I know you said you didn't really want to talk about it since there are so many rumors surrounding it, but without going into specifics, have you heard anything about the Star Wars expansion that's really impressive or is it just mainly NFL overhyped fluff that'll leave ours heads scratching, that's it?

 

[TalkingHead]

So do you think they will eventually eliminate park hopping tickets? I really wonder how much loss revenue will come about by trying to put an end to it, or hinder its uses greatly if they stay...

I do have to wonder if another reason is because they have guests spending almost an hour getting from one park to the next and not being able to spend money during that whole process???

Which should really work well if people don't park hop and leave in droves by mid-afternoon because they've done everything in DHS and DAK. Neither SW nor Avatar turns those parks into full-day experiences. If this was the plan, they should've been adding attractions every couple years for the past decade. Oops.

 

[Captain Neo]

Or they are wanting more Disney Parks to buy the ride ... DL, HKDL and WDSP are the only places that would/could/care to.

Well the rumor was it was using the same ride system as the Avatar simulator (which is supposedly not what they will be using for the Avatar e-ticket anymore)

 

[SirLink]

Well the rumor was it was using the same ride system as the Avatar simulator (which is supposedly not what they will be using for the Avatar e-ticket anymore)

Actually talking of Soarin Next Gen I wonder if Tokyo version will use original Soarin system or Next Gen Soarin system.

 

[WDWDad13]

All I know is competition is a good thing...all theme parks in Orlando benefit one another in some way....and why can't we all just ENJOY what each has to offer different than the next without completely trashing Disney on a Disney forum? Life is too short guys lets just go have a good time wherever.

There isn't a winner or loser in the made up theme park wars other than the fans getting a lot of fun experiences to take in regardless where you go

 

[SirLink]

All I know is competition is a good thing...all theme parks in Orlando benefit one another in some way....and why can't all enjoy what each has to offer different than the next without completely trashing Disney on a Disney forum? There isn't a winner or loser in the made up theme park wars other than the fans getting a lot of fun experiences to take in regardless where you go

That would be all good and well if Disney realised they were in a fight - and was striving to increase the number of attractions - not because the competition is forcing their hand - but because they want to do right by the guest and offer true E-tickets.

But when you have Disney offering nothing of note while Uni continue to outpace them in new experiences with more quality experiences - while Disney keeps their quality bar keep falling. Hence why nothing of note will be added until Wishes is replaced. Oh and refurbs ... mmm.

Sorry but a new spectacular and nothing in the way of any new attractions that actually expand the total ride count of any parks in Florida - it doesn't make me wanna go back to WDW and will be spending my holidays at either DLR or UOR/St.Augustine...

 

[SirLink]

@WDW1974 Yo Spirit, does the BoD now feel any investment in WDW is kinda wasted. Also has Spirited Change been delayed permanently...

 

[WDWDad13]

That would be all good and well if Disney realised they were in a fight - and was striving to increase the number of attractions - not because the competition is forcing their hand - but because they want to do right by the guest and offer true E-tickets.

But when you have Disney offering nothing of note while Uni continue to outpace them in new experiences with more quality experiences - while Disney keeps their quality bar keep falling. Hence why nothing of note will be added until Wishes is replaced. Oh and refurbs ... mmm.

Sorry but a new spectacular and nothing in the way of any new attractions that actually expand the total ride count of any parks in Florida - it doesn't make me wanna go back to WDW and will be spending my holidays at either DLR or UOR/St.Augustine...

That's fine and I have no problem with that - but how does Disney not building new attractions at the pace you'd like, you not going back to wdw because its not doing what you think it should be doing, and me not agreeing with all the UNI is better-kool aid make it just that I be banned on a DISNEY forum?

 

[matt9112]

Competition is only a good thing when both sides choose to participate with new attractions and things to attract more guests. Uni is the only side doing that.

Although Disney may have dropped the figurative ball to say they are not competing would mean complete stagnation. And although uni is blowing them out of the water as of late they have added attractions and have spent tons of money (NextGen) it can also be argued to use country based growth as an example that the smaller and less developed something is.. The cheaper and faster it can develop...people often want to act like the end result is the faster growing competition will just blow past the larger more cumbersome competition when in reality the faster the one grows the more it is likely to resemble the larger one.

 

[matt9112]

...... Or Disney could just, ya know, do more stuff than just trying to market us the same thing over and over again.

Stop buying it than....

 

[Nubs70]

Sometimes NPV and customer satisfaction are mutually exclusive concepts. WDW's actions with NGE show they are more NPV focused. Now, that costs are increasing and delivery delayed WDW is now failing on both concepts.

 

[SirLink]

That's fine and I have no problem with that - but how does Disney not building new attractions at the pace you'd like, you not going back to wdw because its not doing what you think it should be doing, and me not agreeing with all the UNI is better-kool aid make it just that I be banned on a DISNEY forum?

Because quite frankly WDW is stale like a 7 year old loaf of bread. If you can't appreciate what Uni is doing and what WDW isn't doing ... you need to go on your own pilgrimage