Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[Jeffxz]

It requires a PIN, right?

No easier. No harder.

I disagree. For some it will be easy, others will have difficulty.

First, with cash and credit cards everyone immediately understands how to pay, swipe at a terminal or hand a cashier a card. This is something new, and I know how simple it seems, but ask any IT person how many times they have had to explain the simplest tasks to non-technical people. Add to that the possibility of forgetting a pin and all of those impulse buyers you were counting on will get sick of waiting in line and move on.

 

[ChrisFL]

This is what I've heard too. Many Disney fans consider Uni's following to be nothing more than misbehaved delinquent drunks. Yet I have never witnessed any of this at Uni. As a matter of fact, the Uni crowds seem more laid back and less entitled than those at WDW.

The only difference to me would be during HHN, there you see the misbehaved delinquent drunks, but it shouldn't really be a surprise.

Besides that I agree, I've never had a bad experience with other guests at the Uni parks, even during Mardi Gras

 

[Black Pearl]

This thread is beginning to sound elitist and an attempt at defining what people should look like, their career requirements, and background to be admitted into a theme park originally created for everyone.

As a longtime annual pass holder to both parks, I can safely say I've seen all kinds of people in both. The loud, the abnoxious, the oddly dressed (these are theme parks that sell oddly fashioned clothing and hats though to begin with), and so on. Inebriated people are a by product as well anywhere there is alcohol.

Do I get annoyed with certain things? Absolutely. But it isn't exclusive to just when I'm sitting in the AKL, or having a drink at the Poly.

Going on about the perceived classes and types of guests allowed in is not a means to an end unless you are talking about pedophiles etc. which Disney actively attempts to ban (Universal may as well though I've never asked).

Disney didn't create these so called honey boo boo people, and to say they don't belong sounds like someone needs a hug.

 

[WDW1974]

Sorry if it came off that way, but I certainly didn't mean to badger our host! I was more badgering the thread derailers!

didn't feel badgered at all ...sorta in a MAGICal mood when I realize I just booked another DCL cruise today.

I wish this thread hadn't of turned into so many different discussions, most that were already being held in other threads, but I also wish there was no poverty and wars and hate, so ...

There are a few points I absolutely want to get more indepth on, but I've also dropped plenty of news here If people choose ignore it because it isn't blueprints of the new Star Wars land well, there's nothing I can do about that.

I do realize it is now August and we've had another good summer of the same old, some old from WDW and our pals at TDO. Again, I wish I could speed up the few cool projects that WDW has coming but I can't.

I also can,t lie to myself, my friends and the fan community anymore about the fact that UNI is absolutely the best product in O-Town by a mile or three. That epiphany may not make folks happy, either. But WDW has had 14 years since IOA opened to up its game and it simply took its ball and went home. They haven't even been trying and that's what we all know. You think think Disney parks fans in Anaheim (or Paris, HK or Tokyo) are talking about bands and attraction reservations?

 

[luv]

This is what I've heard too. Many Disney fans consider Uni's following to be nothing more than misbehaved delinquent drunks. Yet I have never witnessed any of this at Uni. As a matter of fact, the Uni crowds seem more laid back and less entitled than those at WDW.

I've never heard this. They're the same people. There are a few people who will only go to parks owned by Disney or owned by Uni, but for the most part, it's the same people visiting both.

And heaven knows we have more than our fair share of drunks at Epcot!

 

[WDW1974]

There are a lot of examples where moving to cashless and token systems increase spending while reducing loss.

People spend more on credit... It removes barriers like not having the money with you, not enough, etc

For just a quick example... Look at the airlines
http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2008/10/one-more-drink-per-flight-4-mi.html/

yet, Disney --even with CMs playing with house money -- hasn't found that true. Maybe it was true before the 2007-08 economic collapse, but I watch every dollar i spend (why I love to steal Coke and bars of soap and EMH from my good friends at TDO). Did I say that?

 

[MattM]

There are a lot of examples where moving to cashless and token systems increase spending while reducing loss.

People spend more on credit... It removes barriers like not having the money with you, not enough, etc

For just a quick example... Look at the airlines
http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2008/10/one-more-drink-per-flight-4-mi.html/

Exactly. Which is why some retail companies have started testing not accepting CA$H for payment. Crazy, but not as far fetched as you may think.

Study after study shows that people spend more when they aren't using cash. There is not emotional attachment to swiping a credit card, it hurts a little when you hand over a Benjamin.

 

[Lightyear999]

I've never heard this. They're the same people. There are a few people who will only go to parks owned by Disney or owned by Uni, but for the most part, it's the same people visiting both.

Not the people but an attitude overall. At Uni it all seems more go-with-the-flow, much like DLR, where WDW crowds seem more entitled.

 

[flynnibus]

I can agree that cashless systems could increase spending, but the bands won't encourage it more than regular credit or kttw cards. People that like to pay in cash will continue to pay with cash. I don't believe that if someone was not willing to link their CC to a kttw card they would change their minds due to the bands.

It's just another way to encourage it.. I'm not saying it's night and day - but the band will make it easier for everyone to have a means of purchasing readily at hand.

Now everyone in the group will have a means of purchasing with them at all times. No more is Dad holding all the cards, or he's the only one with his wallet, etc.

It's just more grease for the skids.

But I was also responding to the point made that 'people don't spend more than they plan to' - that's a huge reason to move people to a charge model. People in large always spend more in a charge model vs pure cash.

 

[WDW1974]

I got a jolt on the PM/TTA once. I thought that if I'd been someone with back/neck issues, it could have become a problem. I've been surprised, too, that those cars bump sometimes now. It's not a big whup, IMO, but it is different.

They are not supposed go BUMP. EVER.

And as someone who could have broken an ankle when they did, I would like to think that this would have been fixed immediately.

Three years from now they'll still be bumping.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Who's upset? Funny how you ignored the rest of my comment. You didn't bother answering the first question I asked you.

I ignored it because it is a foolish thing to be upset about. From everything I have read and heard it didn't amount to anymore than the bumping you get at the end of Pirates or Small World. It's not like anyone is getting broadsided by a tractor trailer. It is a small bump and I'm not sure that it wasn't always there. That it just got noticed now doesn't mean it didn't exist before. I marvel at the alleged perfect memories of everyone on this thread. Every little detail, every little nuance is mentally recorded and then reported without any real evidence that there is any news there at all.

I also commented on it because I am so tired of the dramatization of everything. Oh, we got bumped and I almost got hurt. No you didn't, you didn't get hurt at all. It was and is drama, plain and simple. One doesn't ALMOST get injured, they either do or don't. If no one has gotten hurt and it is continuing on then it's not even a safety factor. It is a drama played out to make a point.

I guess it's time to take a break from this thread because all it reminds me of is a bunch of 12 year olds fighting over a basketball. It's immature, without basis and just plain boring. I, for one, am just tired of trying to make sense out of it. So I will leave you all to duke it out with each other.

 

[MattM]

Overheard last night at my local froyo joint.

8-9 year-old girl and her parents discussing where to go for their end of summer vacation. Parents suggest WDW's MK, child says 'no, I don't want to go there. It's boring. Can we go to Universal instead?''

Disney is losing its audience across multiple demos. Stale is stale. Magic bands don't compete with MAGICal cutting edge attractions if you aren't an addict. The paradigm has absolutely shifted.

Dad in my foursome this morning (golf, I suppose I have to clarify here) was taking his wife and 2 girls (7 and 4)to Disney on Monday for a few days for a surprise "back to school" trip because they had been begging to go all summer.


For every one that likes one thing, there's one that likes something else.

 

[WDW1974]

@WDW1974....out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on the possible dismantling of the water feature at GCH?

I have more of an issue with Disney becoming a real estate and hotel company and, therefore, adding timeshare to EVERY resort it can, than I do with removing a water feature.

They've removed so much from that resort as is. From shuttering Tangaroa Terrace to tooning up the dinner show to removing the fish from the entry waterfalls and the birds from inside to hacking down all the big trees on top of said water feature. So, I guess I am Ok with it depending on what replaces it.

 

[flynnibus]

But this isn't a case of going cash to cashless, the stores already except credit cards so the magic band only makes it slightly easier to pay.

See my previous reply - it adds another seamless (or that was the theory) way of paying... which you will have with you at all times. Plus I was responding to the idea that people don't spend more than they planned - that very much is challenged when you move to a cashless system.

 

[nor'easter]

This thread is beginning to sound elitist and an attempt at defining what people should look like, their career requirements, and background to be admitted into a theme park originally created for everyone.

As a longtime annual pass holder to both parks, I can safely say I've seen all kinds of people in both. The loud, the abnoxious, the oddly dressed (these are theme parks that sell oddly fashioned clothing and hats though to begin with), and so on. Inebriated people are a by product as well anywhere there is alcohol.

Do I get annoyed with certain things? Absolutely. But it isn't exclusive to just when I'm sitting in the AKL, or having a drink at the Poly.

Going on about the perceived classes and types of guests allowed in is not a means to an end unless you are talking about pedophiles etc. which Disney actively attempts to ban (Universal may as well though I've never asked).

Disney didn't create these so called honey boo boo people, and to say they don't belong sounds like someone needs a hug.

When I see slobs in stained t-shirts that barely cover their beer bellies, slouched on couches in the lobby of a so-called Disney deluxe hotel, with their bare feet up on the coffee table, I don't feel like I'm getting my money's worth. So yes, call me elitist. I don't see this kind if thing at deluxe hotels elsewhere.

I'm not saying they should be banned, but I don't think there is anything wrong with requiring certain civilities.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I ignored it because it is a foolish thing to be upset about. From everything I have read and heard it didn't amount to anymore than the bumping you get at the end of Pirates or Small World. It's not like anyone is getting broadsided by a tractor trailer. It is a small bump and I'm not sure that it wasn't always there. That it just got noticed now doesn't mean it didn't exist before. I marvel at the alleged perfect memories of everyone on this thread. Every little detail, every little nuance is mentally recorded and then reported without any real evidence that there is any news there at all.

I also commented on it because I am so tired of the dramatization of everything. Oh, we got bumped and I almost got hurt. No you didn't, you didn't get hurt at all. It was and is drama, plain and simple. One doesn't ALMOST get injured, they either do or don't. If no one has gotten hurt and it is continuing on then it's not even a safety factor. It is a drama played out to make a point.

I guess it's time to take a break from this thread because all it reminds me of is a bunch of 12 year olds fighting over a basketball. It's immature, without basis and just plain boring. I, for one, am just tired of trying to make sense out of it. So I will leave you all to duke it out with each other.

Again, I'm not upset. I don't see it as being immature at all. Somebody could have been hurt. I was just trying to figure out why you didn't think it mattered if the cars, that aren't supposed to bump into each other, did. It's not dramatic, and it shouldn't matter if it almost happened. What if you almost got shot? Would that be dramatic?

 

[WDW1974]

Have the figured out the Magic Band thing with Swan/Dolphin and DTD Hilton yet?

I am still trying to find that out. I firmly believe the answer is no and that this could result in some court Action.

 

[MattM]

I was also responding to the point made that 'people don't spend more than they plan to' - that's a huge reason to move people to a charge model. People in large always spend more in a charge model vs pure cash.

You are right, regardless what people say what Disney has and has not found.

If people never spent more than they intended, there would be no (largely consumer, but other types as well) debt.

 

[luv]

They are not supposed go BUMP. EVER.

And as someone who could have broken an ankle when they did, I would like to think that this would have been fixed immediately.

Three years from now they'll still be bumping.

...unless someone smart gets hurt. Then they'll fix it.

 

[HMF]

Here's something for all of us to think about... What will happen if NextGen is not successful and Disney looses billions of dollars? Will Disney in Burbank say to WDW "Oops, sorry about that... Here's another billion to fix the parks and add new rides..." Or will they be like they just told DLP: "Tough doo doo. After all your current construction projects are complete, no more love from us!"? If it's the later, we better hope they succeed with whatever their goal is with NextGen!

If they are smart they would fire nearly everyone involved with the project, Jay Rasulo, Nick Franklin, Tom Staggs,Jim MacPhee, Meg Crofton and basically all of the late Eisner era relics in TDO. Also the Board of Directors should get rid of Iger. Basically anyone who started in Eisner's Strategic Planning should be given pink slips. Whether they will actually do that remains to be seen.