Spirited Spring Break News, Observations & Thoughts ...

[wdisney9000]

..... Why?

I was only kidding. Let that man enjoy his dole whip.

 

[DisneyDad1977]

OK, so I didn't get to visit EPCOT for Flower and Garden Fest, so I was thinking about maybe heading back up this weekend. Not all that serious, but ...

I thought I would check rates for a last minute Easter Holiday at Walt Disney World. This is for a 4/19-4/22 stay ... so I could spend Easter Sunday at the World and a few days after.

Here's some of what I found in a quickee search:

ASMu/ (standard room) $158;
AoA (suite) $422;
BWI $537;
BLT (Studio) $607;
SSR (Studio) $431;
FW (cabin) $425;

Yes, those are all REAL rates ... now, let's play 'What the market really sustains.'

The Ritz-Carlton Orlando $258;

Gaylord Palms $179;

WDW Swan $159;

WDW Dolphin $149;

Hilton Bonnet Creek $149;

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress $189;

Hilton DTD $109;

Sheraton LBV $106;

Wyndham LBV $82;

The Buena Vista Palace $102;

Sheraton Vistana Resort (TWO bedroom unit) $154 ... Now, if you would prefer to check-in tomorrow (Friday, April 18) for a five day getaway, the rates largely stay the same. And, if you book using a hotels.com coupon, you can reduce these rates by 12%. RealityLand anyone...?

Thoughts? Anyone? @ParentsOf4 ?

You know where it's easy to find a cheap hotel room? Ukraine. Where I am spending the next 6 weeks despite the State Dept telling me I shouldn't. Now, finding WiFi so I could actually get caught up on this thread took a little more searching. I took the sensible route and asked someone in fatigues manning a barricade where to find WiFi. Poof.......here I am!

 

[wdisney9000]

OK, so I didn't get to visit EPCOT for Flower and Garden Fest, so I was thinking about maybe heading back up this weekend. Not all that serious, but ...

I thought I would check rates for a last minute Easter Holiday at Walt Disney World. This is for a 4/19-4/22 stay ... so I could spend Easter Sunday at the World and a few days after.

Here's some of what I found in a quickee search:

ASMu/ (standard room) $158;
AoA (suite) $422;
BWI $537;
BLT (Studio) $607;
SSR (Studio) $431;
FW (cabin) $425;

Yes, those are all REAL rates ... now, let's play 'What the market really sustains.'

The Ritz-Carlton Orlando $258;

Gaylord Palms $179;

WDW Swan $159;

WDW Dolphin $149;

Hilton Bonnet Creek $149;

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress $189;

Hilton DTD $109;

Sheraton LBV $106;

Wyndham LBV $82;

The Buena Vista Palace $102;

Sheraton Vistana Resort (TWO bedroom unit) $154 ... Now, if you would prefer to check-in tomorrow (Friday, April 18) for a five day getaway, the rates largely stay the same. And, if you book using a hotels.com coupon, you can reduce these rates by 12%. RealityLand anyone...?

Thoughts? Anyone? @ParentsOf4 ?

So you could get 2 rooms at the Ritz 'M'fing' Carlton for less than a studio at BLT or BWI? WOW

 

[wm49rs]

Justin Upton.
B.J. Upton.
Dan Uggla.
Freddie Freeman.
Chipper Jones.
Cody Ross.
The Pittsburgh Penguins.
Frank Rizzo.

I'll see you all of those, and raise you a Fredi(diot) Gonzalez. Save for Freddie Freeman. I've met the kid, and he's a pretty down-to earth guy. Plus, he's got a good head on his shoulders and he's far less of an #$$&*)! than Chipper, who I've also had the (dis)plasure of meeting.

 

[WDW1974]

I'll preface this post by saying that i'm not an Eisner hater. I mostly agree with your comments about him in general and liked a lot of what he did (though I have some complaints with his reign as well). I'd say i'd easily take him over Iger at this point and would have preferred Eisner had stayed to see what he could do to clean up the mess. What I did want to do in this post is provide some thought on how I think the fanbase came to its conclusions in the first place.

I think a lot of the perceptions of Eisner in the fanbase isn't so much a lack of rational thought (some perhaps but certainly not all), but more a lack of contradictory statements that paint Eisner in a more positive light. The fanbase came to its opinions due to a variety of surrounding circumstances happening to the company at the time, as well as the spin the other corporate leaders were creating against Eisner to the public (Roy Disney Jr also got the fanbase incited against Eisner). Regardless of how much direct blame Eisner deserves for the company's decline during his reign, even the few of us who actually liked a lot of his decisions (or at least don't hate him outright like many do) still concede that he made some pretty damn harmful decisions in his later years. At the very least he allowed things to get too out of hand before it was too late for him to make fixes. Some of these problems the company still hasn't recovered from. But many people do hate him, and I can say that to some extent I do understand where they're coming from. Except for those who think Iger is somehow nearly as good or better...

The fanbase in general really doesn't have much understanding about how the inside of the company works. They have very little to go on- basically from whatever political spin is wrought by the company, and by looking at their surroundings. Now even if you disregard the corporate spin against Eisner, the fanbase still saw his last few years as looking unquestionably dire from an entertainment perspective. Arguably a lot more bad decisions than good ones, some permanently scarring the company forever in ways. The US parks over the course of just a couple of years were morphed into absolute messes, horribly maintained and losing many classic rides/attractions with poor or no substitutes (not to mention making bad and inappropriate thematic alterations). The general opinions about new parks have been pretty meh to negative, with the exception of Disneysea which is adored and considered one of the best out there. California Adventure wasn't very liked at the beginning (it took Cars Land for the fanbase to start giving it serious love). Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris is considered by many to be the worst park Disney has ever built. Hong Kong DL (despite your own feelings or how good it has become in the past few years) was initially considered a disappointment due to the crippling lack of rides. After Treasure Planet there were now several core theatrical Disney animated stink bombs in a row (the plots sucked, and Eisner also made the mistake of killing off traditional animation and burning bridges with Pixar). The direct to video sequels were almost all awful. The Disney Channel (excepting the few successes like Kim Possible) was putting out more garbage than good, such as the teen sitcoms and the made for TV "original movie" crap. One of the few unexpected movie successes during that era was ironically Pirates of the Caribbean. But on the flipside, the Haunted Mansion adaptation released around the same time was terrible.

By the time the Disneyland cleanup happened along with the construction of Everest (the most exciting new WDW attraction since the 90's), Eisner was already in the hot seat with the other leaders and about to be replaced. The fanbase I think sees Eisner's last couple of good decisions more as acts of political desperation to maintain power rather than legitimately caring and trying to fix mistakes (even though that may have been what it really was). Either that or decisions forced upon him rather than his own. So, given the surrounding circumstances along with what information they were being fed (again from people like Roy Disney Jr), I can't blame the fanbase for directing such hate towards Eisner. Some of that blame has to at least indirectly fall to him (even if others were more directly responsible). An outstanding leader (though he was one initially) does not allow a company to spiral out of their control like that.

To this day there really aren't a lot of people like yourself (or even myself) who care to show Eisner in a more positive light, at least Eisner's later years (most people seem to agree the first half of his rule was excellent). And usually when someone praises Eisner now, it's to show how horrible Iger is rather than to show how great Eisner was. I find your comments about Eisner fair to a large extent, but there were legit reasons to hold distaste towards decisions made by the company in the later years of his reign. Even if Eisner is eventually perceived in a more positive light though, he is still going to be perceived by many (and this is fair in some respects) as having poor leadership skills during the last few years of his rule. I don't think he was a poor leader in that he's like a tyrant who is deliberately out to ruin a company and screw the fans in order to make a quick buck (like Iger), leaving the company to burn in his wake. I think Eisner was a leader who had good intentions but let things spiral out of his control. You can make as many excuses as you like that he wasn't at fault for some of the things people blame him for, but as CEO at least some responsibility has to fall to him.

The irrational thought in the fanbase comes from people who hated Eisner but somehow like Iger (thinking he's as good or better as Eisner). I can at least see why someone wouldn't care for Eisner in his later years based on circumstances and such (I myself am far from positive about that time period), but I can't fathom why fans could think Iger any better.

You wrote a lot, so I feel like it deserves some response (BTW, call me old-fashioned, but I think not answering email is just so unprofessional and rude) ... but largely you are just repeating the same things that fanbois have said for years. Much of it is true, but it always winds up something like this: Michael Eisner's last 5-6 years (10 if you have delusions he was nothing without Frank Wells) were a total disaster that almost destroyed the company and, therefore, everything he did before that period should be pushed to the side.

I think that attitude is very much like a sports fan who only remembers the team's last game (like say UF's loss in the NCAA Tourney) and not all the wins that led up to it.

The simple bottom line is this: there wouldn't be a WDC today if not for Michael. There wouldn't be all those parks and resorts at WDW (and around the globe) if not for Michael. There would not be all that amazing IP (much of it milked to death, like say The Little Mermaid, today) if not for Michael. And all of that trumps the bad decisions he and his team made down the road.

He is a Disney Legend in the truest sense. He made it all possible -- including having a company healthy enough to make all those acquisitions that Iger has completed.

 

[WDW1974]

That reminds me of a time in the early 90's, my mom and I were staying at the Grand Floridian (back when the deluxe resorts used to be at a far saner price and were infinitely better run) while they were renovating some of the rooms near ours. Ended up being a very rough night from all the noise. Mom mentioned it to the front desk asking to be moved to a different room, which they did AND also gave us several nights free on top of that. We already were paying less due to AP discounts too.

Only the Disney of today could keep a resort open like the Poly and NOT be offering rooms at a huge discount for staying in a construction zone.

BTW, I wanted to note that when I listed all the availability for this holiday weekend, I wasn't just showing Disney's absurd price points. But also a fundamental weakness in the O-Town tourist market right now. You shouldn't be able to book ALL of those places. They should be booked solid (on prop and off). They aren't. Not a good sign for the economy.

 

[WDW1974]

@WDW1974 do you know what Disney/Marvel's share in movies such as Spider-Man are? Do they box office percentages or do they get a flat licensing fee? Also, you have to love the Marvel branding they are now doing... It's 100% the same as tacking on Disney to their features and such. Every movie now says Marvel Captain America: Winter. (Or whatever movie it might be)

I don't recall the current Marvel deal with Sony and don't wish to misspeak. I am guessing you can find it online pretty easily.

 

[PhotoDave219]

You know where it's easy to find a cheap hotel room? Ukraine. Where I am spending the next 6 weeks despite the State Dept telling me I shouldn't. Now, finding WiFi so I could actually get caught up on this thread took a little more searching. I took the sensible route and asked someone in fatigues manning a barricade where to find WiFi. Poof.......here I am!

Be safe!

 

[dreamfinder]

I hadnt seen anything for 2013 editions. Thanks for the info. One website I read made it seem like they had just released these around the DSMM event in Anaheim last weekend. My mistake. They are definitely nice shoes. I switched from NB a year ago and started using Under Armour shoes as they fit my foot better. I wouldnt mind having a pair of those Sorcerer Mickeys to tear up. $300 bucks though, man, I'd rather go buy some retro Air Jordans and keep em in the box forever. I have like 9 pair that Im too scared to wear and mess up. (theyre all different editions). Thanks for correcting my train of thought in regards to the NB's.

Here is an article on what the ones looked like last year, with some of the success they had selling them. I am still surprised they haven't put them online yet since the NYC and Boston Marathon ones both end up online.
http://running.competitor.com/2013/...e-releasing-two-rundisney-shoes-in-2014_91163

 

[PhotoDave219]

I'll see you all of those, and raise you a Fredi(diot) Gonzalez. Save for Freddie Freeman. I've met the kid, and he's a pretty down-to earth guy. Plus, he's got a good head on his shoulders and he's far less of an #$$&*)! than Chipper, who I've also had the (dis)plasure of meeting.

Yeah, I've met freeman too. Very very cool.

 

[WDW1974]

@WDW1974 , would you be so kind as to post a cross reference list of the more commonly used folks you have nicknames for, ie.."Dr. Blondie", "Bland Tommy", "Lovely Leanne", etc... I'm a bit of a simpleton and don't know who each of these folks are, outside of the oft used Weatherman. Of course, I have to refer to this site's acronym cheat sheet nearly weekly, so I don't expect to remember each of these, but I'll bookmark your post, if you make one.

Look up the DPB team and you'll have your answers.

 

[John]

OK, so I didn't get to visit EPCOT for Flower and Garden Fest, so I was thinking about maybe heading back up this weekend. Not all that serious, but ...

I thought I would check rates for a last minute Easter Holiday at Walt Disney World. This is for a 4/19-4/22 stay ... so I could spend Easter Sunday at the World and a few days after.

Here's some of what I found in a quickee search:

ASMu/ (standard room) $158;
AoA (suite) $422;
BWI $537;
BLT (Studio) $607;
SSR (Studio) $431;
FW (cabin) $425;

Yes, those are all REAL rates ... now, let's play 'What the market really sustains.'

The Ritz-Carlton Orlando $258;

Gaylord Palms $179;

WDW Swan $159;

WDW Dolphin $149;

Hilton Bonnet Creek $149;

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress $189;

Hilton DTD $109;

Sheraton LBV $106;

Wyndham LBV $82;

The Buena Vista Palace $102;

Sheraton Vistana Resort (TWO bedroom unit) $154 ... Now, if you would prefer to check-in tomorrow (Friday, April 18) for a five day getaway, the rates largely stay the same. And, if you book using a hotels.com coupon, you can reduce these rates by 12%. RealityLand anyone...?

Thoughts? Anyone? @ParentsOf4 ?

Sure I will chime in, IMO I think sites like Trivago, Hotels.com among others with their constant and ever expanding marketing seem to be making inroads. The Disney "bubble" has lost its luster. They have had to up the % of discount to.....theres pin codes coming out that will now give up to 35%.....who says the discounts are on the way out? Infact they are cutting deeper. This wont stop either. Woth Uni upping its game and opening CB, and the opening of other attractions I think Disney is already on the way down the slippery slope as far as occupancy and the resorts go. Don't be surprised if they pull out the FP+ card soon....offering up extra FP's. With that we will see an extra charge fo FP+, making FP a perk for staying on property.....OH this is coming...not a matter of if....but when!

Maybe "unlimited" FP, Disney doesn't care about FP. It was never the "real" reason for NGE to begin with ( IMO) it had more to the tracking and the ability to squeeze more money out of its guest. FP+ was just a tool to execute that function.

 

[ScoutN]

OK, so I didn't get to visit EPCOT for Flower and Garden Fest, so I was thinking about maybe heading back up this weekend. Not all that serious, but ...

A few days ago nearly all the topiary were looking like they needed a good shaving done. Badly.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

OK, so I didn't get to visit EPCOT for Flower and Garden Fest, so I was thinking about maybe heading back up this weekend. Not all that serious, but ...

I thought I would check rates for a last minute Easter Holiday at Walt Disney World. This is for a 4/19-4/22 stay ... so I could spend Easter Sunday at the World and a few days after.

Here's some of what I found in a quickee search:

ASMu/ (standard room) $158;
AoA (suite) $422;
BWI $537;
BLT (Studio) $607;
SSR (Studio) $431;
FW (cabin) $425;

Yes, those are all REAL rates ... now, let's play 'What the market really sustains.'

The Ritz-Carlton Orlando $258;

Gaylord Palms $179;

WDW Swan $159;

WDW Dolphin $149;

Hilton Bonnet Creek $149;

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress $189;

Hilton DTD $109;

Sheraton LBV $106;

Wyndham LBV $82;

The Buena Vista Palace $102;

Sheraton Vistana Resort (TWO bedroom unit) $154 ... Now, if you would prefer to check-in tomorrow (Friday, April 18) for a five day getaway, the rates largely stay the same. And, if you book using a hotels.com coupon, you can reduce these rates by 12%. RealityLand anyone...?

Thoughts? Anyone? @ParentsOf4 ?

So you could get 2 rooms at the Ritz 'M'fing' Carlton for less than a studio at BLT or BWI? WOW

I'm sitting in the lobby of a certified four diamond hotel that commands prices between. 250-385 a night depending on season. It's smack in the middle of downtown Pittsburgh.

You mean to tell me a hotel under construction goes for twice the rate as a 4 hotel?

Here's my view, btw.

 

[wdisney9000]

You gotta love Eisner, and not even in the sense of comparing him to Iger. The man just has fun and enjoys life. He is at frickin Coachella tweeting pics of Skrillex and Krewella. Say what you want about him, he knows how to have a good time and I love that he is always with Jane. He is a sports fan, loves movies, very involved in philanthropic enterprises, and still keeps up with TWDC. Thats the kinda guy you want in a massive company like Disney. Did he always make the best decision? No, but who does? Id take someone with a zest for life such as he does any day over most people at TWDC

 

[DisneyDad1977]

Be safe!

Thanks Dave- that's the goal

 

[wdisney9000]

I'll see you all of those, and raise you a Fredi(diot) Gonzalez. Save for Freddie Freeman. I've met the kid, and he's a pretty down-to earth guy. Plus, he's got a good head on his shoulders and he's far less of an #$$&*)! than Chipper, who I've also had the (dis)plasure of meeting.

I met Heyward at an event I attended for work (not Braves related) and he was very cool. We spoke about cars and woman who do anything to get on reality tv shows in Atlanta. I didnt bring up baseball (I wanted to) which Im sure he appreciated. Everybody else I heard speaking with him went straight to asking about the Braves. You gotta think they get sick of that.

 

[wm49rs]

I met Heyward at an event I attended for work (not Braves related) and he was very cool. We spoke about cars and woman who do anything to get on reality tv shows in Atlanta. I didnt bring up baseball (I wanted to) which Im sure he appreciated. Everybody else I heard speaking with him went straight to asking about the Braves. You gotta think they get sick of that.

I can imagine, although when I had the opportunity to speak with him it was at a Braves' fan event. That said, the conversation we had focused on fishing, so perhaps getting way from baseball was the trick.

 

[Captain Neo]

If anyone wants to know what Disney truly fears most, then check out the news on X-Men director Bryan Singer.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/director-bryan-singer-accused-sexually-697047

Why would Disney fear this? Bryan Singer and the X-Men franchise are at Fox.

If anything this is probably a classic hollywood hit job by Disney to tarnish Fox and the X-Men films.

 

[wm49rs]

Why would Disney fear this? Bryan Singer and the X-Men franchise are at Fox.

If anything this is probably a classic hollywood hit job by Disney to tarnish Fox and the X-Men films.

I'll admit to not having any interest in the case personally, but I am going to throw it out there that what Singer is being accused of didn't have anything to do with TWDC. Just a hunch, if you will....