The Spirited 11th Hour ...

[ford91exploder]

The commercials can be very misleading to new potential guests. But for us, you can see pretty easily what's really being shown. I wonder how many have seen them and made the trip only to be disappointed.

But I bet there's also been some so wrapped up on their fandom that they still enjoyed it.

The new commercials are INTENTIONALLY misleading that's why I absolutely despise them.

 

[peter11435]

The new commercials are INTENTIONALLY misleading that's why I absolutely despise them.

For once I agree with you.

 

[Nemo14]

I had a lengthy conversation today with someone going to Orlando and was hoping to see "the new star wars land".... They were not happy afterwards but happy they didnt drop $300+ on something that hasnt been built yet. Theyre going to Universal instead.

I'm in the area now,(running away from winter) and I've seen billboards and advertising locally that if I didn't know better I'd think that they had a new Star Wars land and a new Frozen ride. It really grates on my nerves.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I'm in the area now,(running away from winter) and I've seen billboards and advertising locally that if I didn't know better I'd think that they had a new Star Wars land and a new Frozen ride. It really grates on my nerves.

Marketing, marketing marketing! Ignore the Bob behind the curtain....

 

[Mike S]

The new commercials are INTENTIONALLY misleading that's why I absolutely despise them.

Just like this little number.

 

[Nemo14]

Marketing, marketing marketing! Ignore the Bob behind the curtain....

I just feel bad that there are no doubt some families who look at these ads (or their kids do) and get all psyched for seeing these things that don't even exist.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I just feel bad that there are no doubt some families who look at these ads (or their kids do) and get all psyched for seeing these things that don't even exist.

That was the crux of my convo today.... They had a similar opinion.

 

[Nemo14]

At least your friends knew enough to ask you about it. How many others just believe the ads and go expecting it to be so magical?

 

[alphac2005]

I dont know about you, but they just purchased the 2nd largest cell phone telecom in Mexico (and probably also on most of mid america).
So no surprise if they start then spreading to networking and internet broadband services.

Mexico is apparently the only market in the Americas outside of the U.S. that AT&T has long-term interest in at this point. I thought that it was quite interesting read about that as well.

 

[dreamscometrue]

WDI is under serious pressure now from Chapek, who is willing to slash projects and cut wherever need be to make sure everything comes in at or under budget. The blood is already flowing.

They are now bracing for cuts to the SWL project.

While WDI has been playing loose with numbers for too long, the guest experience needs to not suffer for their mistakes. It seems like a more logical approach would be to work through the chain of a project at WDI to see where unneeded excess is occurring and eliminate as you go instead of demanding cuts from the outset.

It's going to be a really interesting few years.

That's long overdue, but less scary than it sounds with Bob Weis there. There's no better person to get WDI to work properly.

 

[zweltar]

I just feel bad that there are no doubt some families who look at these ads (or their kids do) and get all psyched for seeing these things that don't even exist.

While discussing my upcoming trip with my father, he was excited to tell me about the new Star Wars stuff that he had seen a commercial for. I agree, those commercials are completely misleading in a very intentional way.

 

[Cesar R M]

I had a lengthy conversation today with someone going to Orlando and was hoping to see "the new star wars land".... They were not happy afterwards but happy they didnt drop $300+ on something that hasnt been built yet. Theyre going to Universal instead.

Its inteersting to see how many uninformed people are there.
I wonder how many people went to AK just to see "avatar" and they only managed to see a giant construction going on.

 

[truecoat]

Just like this little number.

I haven't seen the Disney commercial but that didn't look misleading. Watch the movie ride the water ride.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

The new NFL stadium isn't being built in the city of Los Angeles, it's being built in Inglewood. LA taxpayers aren't involved in this at all, if any fiscal responsibility were to land on taxpayers it will be those folks living in the City of Inglewood. The County of Los Angeles is not involved in the project, although the City of Inglewood is within LA county limits.

The teams playing there will of course be branded as "Los Angeles" to the broad Southland metro area of 15+ Million people (excluding San Diego County), but it doesn't appear to require funding from LA County, and since it's not within LA city limits it has nothing to do with anyone at Los Angeles City Hall.

The new mega-stadium is privately funded. From a recent OC Register story... "The $2.66 billion price tag for the Inglewood stadium includes financing costs. The 70,000-seat venue will be privately funded with personal seat licenses and a $200 million loan from the league’s G-4 stadium program." http://www.ocregister.com/articles/stadium-699371-league-relocation.html

Back to Disney, I had to chuckle when Bob Iger's football plan and future career got shot down by the NFL owners on only the second round of voting. What's Bob gonna do now?

What's Bob going to do now? Disney gives him another contract extension?

 

[ParentsOf4]

I'm going to go out on a controversial limb and say the SDL prices strike me as quite fair. Especially in light of Surge pricing riding both sides of how much HKDL charges quite appropriately.

Don't judge SDL's ticket prices by Western, Japan, or even Hong Kong standards.

A July 19, 2013 New York Times article is telling:

Average annual income for a family in 2012 was 13,000 renminbi, or about $2,100. When broken down by geography, the survey results showed that the average amount in Shanghai, a huge coastal city, was just over 29,000 renminbi, or $4,700, while the average in Gansu Province, far from the coast in northwest China, was 11,400 renminbi, or just under $2,000. Average family income in urban areas was about $2,600, while it was $1,600 in rural areas.​

Assuming the survey is accurate and a very healthy 10% annual income gain since then, that makes the ¥370 standard day ticket equivalent to a $488 one-day Magic Kingdom ticket and the ¥499 peak day ticket equivalent to a $658 one-day Magic Kingdom ticket.

 

[Mike S]

Don't judge SDL's ticket prices by Western or even Hong Kong standards.

A July 19, 2013 New York Times article is telling:

Average annual income for a family in 2012 was 13,000 renminbi, or about $2,100. When broken down by geography, the survey results showed that the average amount in Shanghai, a huge coastal city, was just over 29,000 renminbi, or $4,700, while the average in Gansu Province, far from the coast in northwest China, was 11,400 renminbi, or just under $2,000. Average family income in urban areas was about $2,600, while it was $1,600 in rural areas.​

Assuming the survey is accurate and a very healthy 10% annual income gain since then, that makes the ¥370 standard-day ticket equivalent to a $488 one-day Magic Kingdom ticket and the ¥499 premium ticket equivalent to a $658 one-day Magic Kingdom ticket.

And they expect 30 million people a year? Someone's in for a rude awakening.

 

[Nmoody1]

By time Chappie is done SWL will be the cantina and a X wing spinner

A film franchise set to bring the company billions with spinoffs and another two films, and they are trying to save a couple of million on a land dedicated to the franchise. Very poor show. If they aren't even willing to put money into creating a Star Wars land, what hope does EPCOT have!!!

 

[BrianLo]

WDI is under serious pressure now from Chapek, who is willing to slash projects and cut wherever need be to make sure everything comes in at or under budget. The blood is already flowing.

They are now bracing for cuts to the SWL project.

While WDI has been playing loose with numbers for too long, the guest experience needs to not suffer for their mistakes. It seems like a more logical approach would be to work through the chain of a project at WDI to see where unneeded excess is occurring and eliminate as you go instead of demanding cuts from the outset.

It's going to be a really interesting few years.

A film franchise set to bring the company billions with spinoffs and another two films, and they are trying to save a couple of million on a land dedicated to the franchise. Very poor show. If they aren't even willing to put money into creating a Star Wars land, what hope does EPCOT have!!!

This needs reiterating. These are NOT budget cuts. This is a demand to deliver something for the nearly 2 billion dollars they are spending between both coasts. The SWL budget (and DHS redo budget) is already obscene and will stay obscene.

WDI needs to sort its house, hopefully Weis can pull that off. The days of asking for more and more money, like MM+, needs to stop. If WDI can't deliver something awesome with the money they received, Chapek has every right to put his foot down in my opinion.

Although perhaps with a slightly different tactic as @GiveMeTheMusic suggests.

 

[BrianLo]

Don't judge SDL's ticket prices by Western, Japan, or even Hong Kong standards.

A July 19, 2013 New York Times article is telling:

Average annual income for a family in 2012 was 13,000 renminbi, or about $2,100. When broken down by geography, the survey results showed that the average amount in Shanghai, a huge coastal city, was just over 29,000 renminbi, or $4,700, while the average in Gansu Province, far from the coast in northwest China, was 11,400 renminbi, or just under $2,000. Average family income in urban areas was about $2,600, while it was $1,600 in rural areas.​

Assuming the survey is accurate and a very healthy 10% annual income gain since then, that makes the ¥370 standard day ticket equivalent to a $488 one-day Magic Kingdom ticket and the ¥499 peak day ticket equivalent to a $658 one-day Magic Kingdom ticket.

Yes, if the goal were to price it towards the same median-income earner, but it's not. SDL isn't for the average Chinese citizen, it's for the average Chinese tourist. The latter group is still quite large, continually growing and has a much healthier income to achieve the numbers they are seeking.

A departure from Walt's "for everyone" ideals, but this is China after all and 60 years later.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Yes, if the goal were to price it towards the same median-income earner, but it's not. SDL isn't for the average Chinese citizen, it's for the average Chinese tourist. The latter group is still quite large, continually growing and has a much healthier income to achieve the numbers they are seeking.

A departure from Walt's "for everyone" ideals, but this is China after all and 60 years later.

Yes but you also have to recall what CEO Bob Iger has said to Wall Street regarding the future success of SDL. For example, during his December 2015 interview on Bloomberg TV:

And so when you look at Shanghai as a for instance and put a Disneyland there in Pudong, you have access to a huge, huge population base. Hundreds of millions of people. Over 300 million people will be able to travel to Shanghai Disneyland within a 3-1/2 hour trip interestingly enough. You know that's really quite a large consumer base. So we're bullish.​

Iger has repeatedly boasted about the "300 million people" who live "within a 3-1/2 hour trip", using this to assure Wall Street that SDL will be a rousing financial windfall for the company, all the time knowing that prices were going to make SDL beyond the reach of most of those 300 million consumers.

That 300 million number is irrelevant if most can't afford it.

Besides, you're the one who earlier wrote ''I'm going to go out on a controversial limb and say the SDL prices strike me as quite fair", which is what my post was in response to. I doubt a lot of people would consider a $488 or $658 one-day Magic Kingdom ticket to be "quite fair". Based on what you wrote in your most recent post, neither would you. After all, "quite fair" isn't fair if it's only fair for the wealthy.