The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[lazyboy97o]

I just don’t think the combo of expensive premier passes and the frequent necessity of “standby passes” would work well with locals/ membership holders. Not a lot of room for spontaneity and they already have us glued to our phones way too much before these new additions. The missing piece of the puzzle of course is what the new membership program looks like.

Which again brings me back to an earlier point: How confusing do you want to make the park experience for your guests?? Imagine if the average vacationer doesn't know whether they have to get in line or not? How frustrating. Doesn't sound "magical" at all.

Disney has successfully cultivated an audience that sees itself not as consumers who purchase a product but as people who live a certain lifestyle. Disney isn’t just something you buy and enjoy, it is part of your identity and how you live your life (says the guy on the Disney message most definitely known to others as “the Disney guy”.)

While they like tourists who plop down a wad of wash they also very much like those repeat visitors who keep coming back. Their growth really hasn’t been driven by new customers but by getting the same people to keep coming back more frequently.

 

[mickEblu]

Which again brings me back to an earlier point: How confusing do you want to make the park experience for your guests?? Imagine if the average vacationer doesn't know whether they have to get in line or not? How frustrating. Doesn't sound "magical" at all.

I think people, specifically locals, will begin to hit a wall and be ok with other options like Knotts and USH that are much cheaper and don’t make you jump through hoops to have a “good time.” Between the asinine virtue signaling, the lackluster new additions and operational issues I’m not sure I’ll be buying a membership when they are offered. Especially after the year + away from the parks, I think I’ve come to the realization that I’m ok with the concept of going to DLR once a year or less. Probably just making it an offsite hotel 2 day trip.

 

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

Which again brings me back to an earlier point: How confusing do you want to make the park experience for your guests?? Imagine if the average vacationer doesn't know whether they have to get in line or not? How frustrating. Doesn't sound "magical" at all.

Or if you’re like my 73 year old father and you still have a Nokia flip phone and the only “apps” you know anything is whether to order potato skins or stuffed mushrooms. Lol

Edit: which to be clear isn’t meant as a slight, but to say there there are still actually people/original fans who don’t know how to use mobile devices, many of whom (like my dad) actually visited the park in the 1950s.

 

[DrAlice]

Disney has successfully cultivated an audience that sees itself not as consumers who purchase a product but as people who live a certain lifestyle. Disney isn’t just something you buy and enjoy, it is part of your identity and how you live your life (says the guy on the Disney message most definitely known to others as “the Disney guy”.)

While they like tourists who plop down a wad of wash they also very much like those repeat visitors who keep coming back. Their growth really hasn’t been driven by new customers but by getting the same people to keep coming back more frequently.

Which brings us to @mickEblu and @BuzzedPotatoHead89 points: This kind of decision might just backfire by upsetting those repeat customers. They might have just enough people to keep their profit level the same, but how do they grow? You can't keep upselling without eventually pricing everyone out.

 

[mickEblu]

Disney has successfully cultivated an audience that sees itself not as consumers who purchase a product but as people who live a certain lifestyle. Disney isn’t just something you buy and enjoy, it is part of your identity and how you live your life (says the guy on the Disney message most definitely known to others as “the Disney guy”.)

While they like tourists who plop down a wad of wash they also very much like those repeat visitors who keep coming back. Their growth really hasn’t been driven by new customers but by getting the same people to keep coming back more frequently.

True and they ll always have the loyalty of the most hardcore fans. But I’m pretty hardcore myself and I’ve just about had it. I’m sure many feel the same. Whether I and others who feel the same will put their money where their mouth is remains to be seen. I just think they are changing too much too fast, continually offering less and charging more and are possibly overestimating the loyalty of their fans.

 

[DrAlice]

A random thought for those that like to talk about the execs:

I read so much praise for Josh D'Amaro on here. This crazy plan happened on his watch. Just sayin...

 

[lazyboy97o]

Which brings us to @mickEblu and @BuzzedPotatoHead89 points: This kind of decision might just backfire by upsetting those repeat customers. They might have just enough people to keep their profit level the same, but how do they grow? You can't keep upselling without eventually pricing everyone out.

In short, that’s someone else’s problem.

I don’t disagree in thinking that many actions are causing long term harm, but I also acknowledge that I’ve been saying that for years now and the train keeps on chugging. And it’s not just theme parks, a lousy photo-realistic remake of a traditionally animated films seem to be a recipe for nearly a billion dollars in box office gross.

 

[Mac Tonight]

This just might be the most blatantly greedy thing Disney has ever tried. Wanna guarantee you get to ride your favorite ride on your visit?? Just pay us more!

Let's hope this is DOA, stateside.

 

[Mac Tonight]

That's how I interpreted it too.


As @lazyboy97o said, sure it can. Think about a typical day at the DLR: Space Mountain, Soarin and RSR fastpasses disappear by early afternoon sometimes. In the Paris system, you would either not ride, or pay.

I hate it too. And actually, that isn't even correct. I really can't express how I'm feeling about this. Angry? Disappointed? Cynical? I keep picturing the Disney execs that came up with this plan like this....



...and it makes me sad.

EDIT: tried to fix my tortured last sentence... not sure if I improved it or not.

I'm sorry, and I know @lazyboy97o has been explaining it too, but I just don't understand how a queue can be "full" all day.

When I went back in June during social distancing, I experienced a queue "closure" and I was just encouraged to wait 10-15 minutes for it to die back down. We decided to wait an hour and have lunch, but when we tried again we got in line just fine.

Let's say the queue limit is 100 people. Once it hits 100 (even if that's 10am), you're saying they can just cut it off, switch to Standby Pass, and... that's it? Until closing? There would *always* be 100 people in the queue for the rest of the day???

I'm willing to believe I'm being way too literal with this, and my confusion is also likely frustration-borne, but my gosh... this is so dumb.

 

[mickEblu]

Is earthquake weather a thing? I woke up on this gloomy, hot, muggy day and told my wife that it was earthquake weather and sure enough a few hours later we had a 5.9 quake.

 

[Mac Tonight]

Is earthquake weather a thing? I woke up on this gloomy, hot, muggy day and told my wife that it was earthquake weather and sure enough a few hours later we had a 5.9 quake.

I must have missed that one... where was it centered?

 

[mickEblu]

I must have missed that one... where was it centered?

Near Tahoe I believe.

 

[Mac Tonight]

Near Tahoe I believe.

Oh. That explains it.

 

[Sharon&Susan]

How has Ducktales still not recieved an HD transfer yet?

 

[lazyboy97o]

I'm sorry, and I know @lazyboy97o has been explaining it too, but I just don't understand how a queue can be "full" all day.

When I went back in June during social distancing, I experienced a queue "closure" and I was just encouraged to wait 10-15 minutes for it to die back down. We decided to wait an hour and have lunch, but when we tried again we got in line just fine.

Let's say the queue limit is 100 people. Once it hits 100 (even if that's 10am), you're saying they can just cut it off, switch to Standby Pass, and... that's it? Until closing? There would *always* be 100 people in the queue for the rest of the day???

I'm willing to believe I'm being way too literal with this, and my confusion is also likely frustration-borne, but my gosh... this is so dumb.

You seem to be way too stuck on the actual queue itself.

Going back to your experience in June, you were able to try again because future rides were not reserved in advance. It’s like a restaurant that offers reservations and walk-ups. If you go at a really popular time they may only be accepting people with reservations. You could wait until a less popular time but if enough people keep making reservations for later that day then you never get in.

The actual trigger and specifics are unknown. Disney could act in good faith but it does give them more tools to manipulate the situation. They could slowly allot reservations throughout the day or dump them all at once. They could limit how many people hold or remove them for a price. They could allocate more capacity to paid riders. They could act reasonably like Universal did with Volcano Bay by reducing capacity to actually better match to the park’s capacity or they could go full nightmare and turn certain attractions into upcharges.

 

[milordsloth]

Near Tahoe I believe.

I felt it at my office in San Jose! Pretty freaky to have the building shake like that.

 

[DrAlice]

Is earthquake weather a thing? I woke up on this gloomy, hot, muggy day and told my wife that it was earthquake weather and sure enough a few hours later we had a 5.9 quake.

There were several within about an hour of one another: one near Reno, one near Yosemite, and one near Stockton.

My daughter felt something in that time frame, but nobody else did. (and we are an hour or more away from all of those).

 

[DrAlice]

I'm sorry, and I know @lazyboy97o has been explaining it too, but I just don't understand how a queue can be "full" all day.

When I went back in June during social distancing, I experienced a queue "closure" and I was just encouraged to wait 10-15 minutes for it to die back down. We decided to wait an hour and have lunch, but when we tried again we got in line just fine.

Let's say the queue limit is 100 people. Once it hits 100 (even if that's 10am), you're saying they can just cut it off, switch to Standby Pass, and... that's it? Until closing? There would *always* be 100 people in the queue for the rest of the day???

I'm willing to believe I'm being way too literal with this, and my confusion is also likely frustration-borne, but my gosh... this is so dumb.

If Disney manages things well (with guest experience in mind), then theoretically lines would at least be open in the morning and the evening, with the crazy pass system in use during the busiest parts of the day. As @lazyboy97o said, this assumes Disney operates in good faith. I think we all fear that they will manipulate this system to their advantage. The scenario I've talked about is when the parks are at their busiest (think Christmastime). You could imagine the lines for the most popular rides will turn to a standby pass and premier pass only for most or all of the day. And, just like fast passes fill up before the day is over in the current system, that could happen here too.

But listen, even if they don't fill up all day, this system sucks. We've already seen just how much the boarding group lottery frustrates people. Think about how frustrating it would be to be told that you can't ride SEVERAL rides right now. Not that the lines are long and you have to wait, but you CAN'T ride them, or MAYBE you can HOPE that they will be available much later. I think about families like mine with small children: we don't have the luxury of coming back to ride something late at night when the regular line opens up. My kid will be asleep! So, I either pay up or go away. Guess which one I will choose?

@mickEblu pointed out that there are several unknowns here that will come into play. Maybe you are right and the standby line won't totally disappear and I'm being melodramatic for nothing. But seriously, this just sounds like the potential for a disaster in the making. At the very least, it does nothing to enhance guest experience.

 

[Mac Tonight]

@mickEblu pointed out that there are several unknowns here that will come into play. Maybe you are right and the standby line won't totally disappear and I'm being melodramatic for nothing. But seriously, this just sounds like the potential for a disaster in the making. At the very least, it does nothing to enhance guest experience.

I think ultimately, thats my biggest problem. How does potentially losing the ability to ride something (unless you pay an uncharge), equate to a better overall Park experience? Like I said earlier, it just seems like blatant greed, with zero return to the consumer.

 

[Mac Tonight]

You seem to be way too stuck on the actual queue itself.

Going back to your experience in June, you were able to try again because future rides were not reserved in advance. It’s like a restaurant that offers reservations and walk-ups. If you go at a really popular time they may only be accepting people with reservations. You could wait until a less popular time but if enough people keep making reservations for later that day then you never get in.

The actual trigger and specifics are unknown. Disney could act in good faith but it does give them more tools to manipulate the situation. They could slowly allot reservations throughout the day or dump them all at once. They could limit how many people hold or remove them for a price. They could allocate more capacity to paid riders. They could act reasonably like Universal did with Volcano Bay by reducing capacity to actually better match to the park’s capacity or they could go full nightmare and turn certain attractions into upcharges.

Or they could just... keep things the way they are now?

You're right, I am getting stuck on the queue. Because when I hear "the queue will be closed" I'm visualizing people in a physical line at max capacity... at all times. That's the only reason it would make sense to me to close it. Or you'd have to employ a "end of the line" CM (like they did with social distancing) who is in communication with the vehicle loaders and they'd just allow one more person into the queue for every rider that goes through the attraction.

I'll let it go, but bottom line, it just seems to be way more trouble than it's worth... but hey, it's an opportunity for them to make more money, so it'll probably happen.