The Spirited Back Nine ...

[ford91exploder]

TSPL in Paris cost about $75M. I think that's where the number comes from. Still waiting to hear what the other Billion plus is going to be spent on.

Or even IF it will be spent at all... If the new SW is a stinker I think all bets are off.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Props to @wdwmagic for waiting two weeks out to put up the Christmas decorations for the site.

 

[BrianLo]

He better hope that new movie is good.

But how dumb is this quote. Yeah, because I am sure people would be saying that. He better hope people won't be saying "How come this attraction has all this stuff from the lame new movie"

Wasn't the long standing complaint that Disney had no faith in Frozen and should have been more aggressive early on with theme park, marketing and merchandise plans?

Now they are 'too confident' in their future product (a product which is a virtually guaranteed proven success)?

It's just cyclical complaining these days, clearly no one actually seems to know what they want out of Disney. The only thing that fans do like is hindsight (and often a rose-colored one at that).

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Wasn't the long standing complaint that Disney had no faith in Frozen and should have been more aggressive early on with theme park, marketing and merchandise plans?

Now they are 'too confident' in their future product (a product which is a virtually guaranteed proven success)?

It's just cyclical complaining these days, clearly no one actually seems to know what they want out of Disney. The only thing that fans do like is hindsight (and often a rose-colored one at that).

I think the 90's strategy of aggressively promoting a new film WHEN IT'S RELEASED is a very good strategy, and it has cost Disney untold millions because they strayed so far from it. Risk averse to the extreme only works when your new product falls flat - there's no preparation for success, as we all saw with Frozen.

Pumping in new shows/parades etc. to the parks annually to promote new films kills two birds with one stone - the parks get new promotable product and the studios get synergistic promotion for the film. With capex abysmally low for domestic P&R, these kinds of things shouldn't be considered luxuries. They should be de rigeur.

Eisner, for all his faults, knew how to synergize the living tar out of new properties. I think it's fantastic that new Star Wars attractions will center around the new films (I'm sure there will be plenty of touches for the original trilogy as well).

In 2015, it would be a wonderful thing if Cranium Command/WOL could be revived with Inside Out. It's almost too easy. What if The Good Dinosaur became an excuse to rebuild Dinorama into something worthwhile? These are the kinds of synergistic opportunities that should be celebrated and encouraged by Disney. They aren't, and it's their loss.

 

[ford91exploder]

Props to @wdwmagic for waiting two weeks out to put up the Christmas decorations for the site.

Did you notice the bells are on a scale, You can actually play music on them!!!

 

[ford91exploder]

I think the 90's strategy of aggressively promoting a new film WHEN IT'S RELEASED is a very good strategy, and it has cost Disney untold millions because they strayed so far from it. Risk averse to the extreme only works when your new product falls flat - there's no preparation for success, as we all saw with Frozen.

Pumping in new shows/parades etc. to the parks annually to promote new films kills two birds with one stone - the parks get new promotable product and the studios get synergistic promotion for the film. With capex abysmally low for domestic P&R, these kinds of things shouldn't be considered luxuries. They should be de rigeur.

Eisner, for all his faults, knew how to synergize the living tar out of new properties. I think it's fantastic that new Star Wars attractions will center around the new films (I'm sure there will be plenty of touches for the original trilogy as well).

In 2015, it would be a wonderful thing if Cranium Command/WOL could be revived with Inside Out. It's almost too easy. What if The Good Dinosaur became an excuse to rebuild Dinorama into something worthwhile? These are the kinds of synergistic opportunities that should be celebrated and encouraged by Disney. They aren't, and it's their loss.

Exactly and Walt did exactly the SAME thing with television to promote Disneyland.

 

[GoofGoof]

Or even IF it will be spent at all... If the new SW is a stinker I think all bets are off.

No chance SW loses money. The prequels got pretty average reviews and still made a bundle. 2020 is a long ways off so I'd say a macro economic issue is much more likely to de-rail a SW project than a failure at the box office. Lots of plans on the table for the first 5 years of the new century got shelved after 9/11.

Last I heard from the insiders here was the $1B+ budget for the DHS makeover didn't include SW. That's phase 2 with its own separate budget.

 

[ford91exploder]

Wasn't the long standing complaint that Disney had no faith in Frozen and should have been more aggressive early on with theme park, marketing and merchandise plans?

Now they are 'too confident' in their future product (a product which is a virtually guaranteed proven success)?

It's just cyclical complaining these days, clearly no one actually seems to know what they want out of Disney. The only thing that fans do like is hindsight (and often a rose-colored one at that).

Yes but TWDC could learn from it's past - Promote BIG at the premier and ramp down IF necessary

 

[ford91exploder]

No chance SW loses money. The prequels got pretty average reviews and still made a bundle. 2020 is a long ways off so I'd say a macro economic issue is much more likely to de-rail a SW project than a failure at the box office. Lots of plans on the table for the first 5 years of the new century got shelved after 9/11.

Last I heard from the insiders here was the $1B+ budget for the DHS makeover didn't include SW. That's phase 2 with its own separate budget.

There IS a chance SW will be a loser, Just look what Disney did with the Lone Ranger/John Carter If they make some politically correct movie with Star Wars props it could very well bomb at the box office.

If they had kept to the theme of the original Lone Ranger - ie Good Guy on horse rides in and defeats the bad guys it would have been a success (see Captain America movies replace horse with 40's bike) , And how can you screw up Edgar Rice Burroughs classic tale.

 

[ford91exploder]

No chance SW loses money. The prequels got pretty average reviews and still made a bundle. 2020 is a long ways off so I'd say a macro economic issue is much more likely to de-rail a SW project than a failure at the box office. Lots of plans on the table for the first 5 years of the new century got shelved after 9/11.

Last I heard from the insiders here was the $1B+ budget for the DHS makeover didn't include SW. That's phase 2 with its own separate budget.

You know what phase 2 means in Disney Projects, A coffee table book of never built attractions by a former Imagineer.

 

[bhg469]

There IS a chance SW will be a loser, Just look what Disney did with the Lone Ranger/John Carter If they make some politically correct movie with Star Wars props it could very well bomb at the box office.

If they had kept to the theme of the original Lone Ranger - ie Good Guy on horse rides in and defeats the bad guys it would have been a success (see Captain America movies replace horse with 40's bike) , And how can you screw up Edgar Rice Burroughs classic tale.

I don't think there is a chance. Maybe the next film after 7 but JJ will not sully the series. He seems to love it too much to mess it up. Episode 8? Could end up being completely bad if the director doesn't have a similar vision.

 

[ford91exploder]

I don't think there is a chance. Maybe the next film after 7 but JJ will not sully the series. He seems to love it too much to mess it up. Episode 8? Could end up being completely bad if the director doesn't have a similar vision.

Agree JJ will not screw it up on his own, But he still has to make the movie that Burbank wants so we may see JJ going walkabout.

 

[zweltar]

So IF SW land is based off of the new films, perhaps that doesn't mean there will be no carry over from the old films. I saw X-wings, the Millenium Falcon, and several other familiar objects in the teaser trailer. Even the old (in all senses of the word) main characters are to return. So perhaps, even if the new attractions are to include the new films, there will still be elements of the original trilogy included.

 

[Lord_Vader]

It cost me $200 to swim with a dolphin for 25mins... that doesn't make my $40 quick service meal a bargain. Your comparing apples and oranges as the two operate on completely different models.

Captive audiences are not reasons to justify whatever price the dictator demands as reasonable. It means you can expect non-competitive prices, but that is not a green light to gouge.

The prices are not justifiable in any means - they are simply testing the limits of what people will pay. Disney has the volume, the buying power, the preferential space, effectively zero competition and still will be some of the highest prices for the most average food around. There is no way around it. It would be like Walmart charging Guicci prices.

As long as people keep going 'oh well... its disney!' they are going to keep fisting customers and laughing all the way to the quarterly reports. The complacency just ensures Disney will see no wrong and keep doing it until its too late for you too.

I never said food (or any other items at WDW) is a bargain at WDW. I was simply stating that most people expect to pay elevated prices at locations that focus on tourists, not that it is right from an ethical standpoint. When I go to the ballpark I know they are taking me for a fool when they want to charge $7.00 for a 20oz draft beer or $6.00 for a hot dog. Disney is taking advantage of an overall acceptance by most tourists that most items will cost more at theme parks including lodging, food and souvenirs. Business Management 101, supply and demand at work here. Disney has a "limited" supply of attractions, restaurants and resort rooms and until demand falters prices will continue to rise whether we like or not.

You paid $40 for a QS meal at WDW? One of the most expensive (that I know of) is the combo platter in AK's Flame Tree BBQ and it costs around $23 plus $2.75 for a soda. Now that is still pricey, very pricey IMO but nowhere close to $40.

 

[Travel Junkie]

There IS a chance SW will be a loser, Just look what Disney did with the Lone Ranger/John Carter If they make some politically correct movie with Star Wars props it could very well bomb at the box office.

If they had kept to the theme of the original Lone Ranger - ie Good Guy on horse rides in and defeats the bad guys it would have been a success (see Captain America movies replace horse with 40's bike) , And how can you screw up Edgar Rice Burroughs classic tale.

Whoever green lit the Lone Ranger at that budget should lose their job. An IP most people under 50 don’t relate to and realize that this would have had to be the highest grossing western of all time…to break even! Western's are not box office blockbusters. John Carter also suffers from irrelevancy even if it inspired so much (sorry it’s true.) This was on top of it being poorly made.

Star Wars does not suffer these problems. They could do nothing but play the John Williams score for 2 hours and it would gross a billion.

 

[dstrawn9889]

I never said food (or any other items at WDW) is a bargain at WDW. I was simply stating that most people expect to pay elevated prices at locations that focus on tourists, not that it is right from an ethical standpoint. When I go to the ballpark I know they are taking me for a fool when they want to charge $7.00 for a 20oz draft beer or $6.00 for a hot dog. Disney is taking advantage of an overall acceptance by most tourists that most items will cost more at theme parks including lodging, food and souvenirs. Business Management 101, supply and demand at work here. Disney has a "limited" supply of attractions, restaurants and resort rooms and until demand falters prices will continue to rise whether we like or not.

You paid $40 for a QS meal at WDW? One of the most expensive (that I know of) is the combo platter in AK's Flame Tree BBQ and it costs around $23 plus $2.75 for a soda. Now that is still pricey, very pricey IMO but nowhere close to $40.

via napoli--- appetizer(Salami e Provolone), entree(Piatti alla Parmigiana - Vitello - veal), dessert(Zeppole di Caterina) and drink--- $52.00
:::EDIT::: oops, you said Counter service

 

[Cesar R M]

Wasn't the long standing complaint that Disney had no faith in Frozen and should have been more aggressive early on with theme park, marketing and merchandise plans?

Now they are 'too confident' in their future product (a product which is a virtually guaranteed proven success)?

It's just cyclical complaining these days, clearly no one actually seems to know what they want out of Disney. The only thing that fans do like is hindsight (and often a rose-colored one at that).

Actually its not "cyclical".
the complains are very basic.
First.. Disney didnt think of the popularity of the movie at all, barely had products in shelves.. now they are everywhere.
Then, after Frozen proved to be extremely popular.... instead of getting a prime time E ticket, we get a crappy refurb on an extremely low capacity section in an area that doesn't fit thematically at all. (I'm talking about Epcot's frozen).

 

[Lord_Vader]

via napoli--- appetizer(Salami e Provolone), entree(Piatti alla Parmigiana - Vitello - veal), dessert(Zeppole di Caterina) and drink--- $52.00
:::EDIT::: oops, you said Counter service

Via Napoli isn't exactly QS, even if it has a walk up window and can you name one fast food restaurant that has anything even close to comparable in central FL?

If you ordered a slice of pizza and a soda I could accept that but that is really a table service meal with an appetizer. Prices still high but not QS at all.

 

[FigmentJedi]

In 2015, it would be a wonderful thing if Cranium Command/WOL could be revived with Inside Out. It's almost too easy. What if The Good Dinosaur became an excuse to rebuild Dinorama into something worthwhile? These are the kinds of synergistic opportunities that should be celebrated and encouraged by Disney. They aren't, and it's their loss.

Good Dinosaur would also be a great way to replace the Nemo Musical, maybe taking inspirational cues from the Walking with Dinosaurs arena show. Then Theater of the Wild could finally fit into the rest of Dinoland.

 

[FigmentJedi]

There IS a chance SW will be a loser, Just look what Disney did with the Lone Ranger/John Carter If they make some politically correct movie with Star Wars props it could very well bomb at the box office.

If they had kept to the theme of the original Lone Ranger - ie Good Guy on horse rides in and defeats the bad guys it would have been a success (see Captain America movies replace horse with 40's bike) , And how can you screw up Edgar Rice Burroughs classic tale.

John Carter was just fine as an adaptation. A fun pulpy sci-fi adventure movie with a great Willem Dafoe performance with Tars and a fantastic sidekick in the form of Woola. The problem was the pants on head idiotic marketing.