The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[WDW1974]

Spirited Tuesday/NBA Finals Musings:



Thanks to those kind spirits who continue to send me info on Compass Rose. I do appreciate it.

To the folks who are gushing because UNI took some walls down, I'd only ask, why? Anyone paying attention to what the company has been doing the last five years KNEW that something special was being built at UNI and that they are putting forth the best work currently being built in the USA BY FAR. Sure, DLR lovers can still, rightfully, crow about the work done for Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, but WDW fans have NOTHING that deserves to even be spoken about in the same conversation as what UNI is doing. I don't care whether you like the Potter IP or whether your six-year-old might not be able to ride. That isn't what I am talking about. I am talking about building the best product out there right now.

Meanwhile, if you want to know what is going on at WDW, take a glance at the first two pages of thread titles on this site. How many have to do with things broken or falling apart? How many are about things not right? Add in a couple on upcharge events and others talking about small things (yes, a Starbucks at what used to be the Westside is a small thing, the food court of a value motel being redone is a small thing, Disney finally using image capture on Mansion is a small thing etc.) and what do you really have? Like I said, I absolutely do NOT want this thread becoming another thread of back and forth on the same points. But the difference between what the two companies are doing is stark (no, fanbois, not Tony because he can't ever be a part of WDW ... and if Disney hadn't bought Marvel you'd have no damn interest in him over Aqualad and you know it!)


You know, sometimes a tiki bar is just a tiki bar.

To that special fanboi/CM, how come you are booking cast rooms at WDW (15 minutes from your home), but not looking into cruises? Shame, shame, shame ...

How many bugs flying around a Dunkin Donuts is too many for you?

You do know why the 'celeb' narrators are coming to WDW for Harambe Nights, right? Free trips and a paycheck. Still, amused that a Trek guy will be there this weekend when SWWs are wrapping up. That must make things awkward for Gary Buchanan.

Remember when WDW didn't discount rooms during the first two months of summer? Yeah, me too.

Remember when a WDW room at 50% off was something you wouldn't laugh about?

Why would someone I never met or talked to think sending me a note telling me to not ''push'' something would do anything other than encourage me to push even harder? Dumb move, dude. Very, very, very dumb.

 

[wdisney9000]

Oh I can tell the difference between Mr Boston and other vodkas. Maybe not walgreens rubbing alcohol but other vodkas yes.

I have no doubt in your refined taste buds, my friend. This particular girl was just asking to be put in her place and I knew she couldn't tell sh*t from Shinola.

 

[suburbianj]

Spirited Tuesday/NBA Finals Musings:



Thanks to those kind spirits who continue to send me info on Compass Rose. I do appreciate it.

To the folks who are gushing because UNI took some walls down, I'd only ask, why? Anyone paying attention to what the company has been doing the last five years KNEW that something special was being built at UNI and that they are putting forth the best work currently being built in the USA BY FAR. Sure, DLR lovers can still, rightfully, crow about the work done for Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, but WDW fans have NOTHING that deserves to even be spoken about in the same conversation as what UNI is doing. I don't care whether you like the Potter IP or whether your six-year-old might not be able to ride. That isn't what I am talking about. I am talking about building the best product out there right now.

Meanwhile, if you want to know what is going on at WDW, take a glance at the first two pages of thread titles on this site. How many have to do with things broken or falling apart? How many are about things not right? Add in a couple on upcharge events and others talking about small things (yes, a Starbucks at what used to be the Westside is a small thing, the food court of a value motel being redone is a small thing, Disney finally using image capture on Mansion is a small thing etc.) and what do you really have? Like I said, I absolutely do NOT want this thread becoming another thread of back and forth on the same points. But the difference between what the two companies are doing is stark (no, fanbois, not Tony because he can't ever be a part of WDW ... and if Disney hadn't bought Marvel you'd have no damn interest in him over Aqualad and you know it!)


You know, sometimes a tiki bar is just a tiki bar.

To that special fanboi/CM, how come you are booking cast rooms at WDW (15 minutes from your home), but not looking into cruises? Shame, shame, shame ...

How many bugs flying around a Dunkin Donuts is too many for you?

You do know why the 'celeb' narrators are coming to WDW for Harambe Nights, right? Free trips and a paycheck. Still, amused that a Trek guy will be there this weekend when SWWs are wrapping up. That must make things awkward for Gary Buchanan.

Remember when WDW didn't discount rooms during the first two months of summer? Yeah, me too.

Remember when a WDW room at 50% off was something you wouldn't laugh about?

Why would someone I never met or talked to think sending me a note telling me to not ''push'' something would do anything other than encourage me to push even harder? Dumb move, dude. Very, very, very dumb.

its good to see one company not being greedy and giving the customers what they want....new,imaginative rides,and not worrying about the bottom line,universal is still making a ton of money,but will do so even more once harry potter 2.0 opens.........when will you take the hint Disney,take a leaf....no let me rephrase that....take a fricking forest out of universals books please?

 

[WDW1974]

The opening of Potter 2.0 won't effect Disney in any noticeable way in the near future, however it's long term effects could be devastating.

I don't view it as a Potter issue in a vacuum because if WDW had continued to add, continued to innovate ... hell, just continued to care, I think Potter would simply help everyone in Central Florida, including the Mouse.

But stagnation, outright neglect, contempt for cast and guests and irresponsible spending (yes, talking NGE here all the way because what could you do -- or what could Comcast -- do with a few extra billion dollars?) are what keeps the empire standing.

Potter is just the latest major shot to Disney's business that they will answer with Harambe Nights, the Marketplace Co-Op, a new Starbucks (doesn't City Walk have one too?) and, of course, the SDMT that is being advertised here on ABC in Miami as I type.

Potter 2 (and the addition of Transformers last year) finally turns Universal Studios into a top tier park - something IMO it has never been - and makes Uni a complete "resort" with two must-do parks for the first time. A visit to Uni sadly now makes WDW look devastatingly out-of-date in comparisson.

Finally? See, call me a UNI fanboi and a Disney hater (I'm definitely one, but not the other!) but I'd argue that five years ago UNI was a top tier park. If you would say TPFKaTD-MGMS was/is top tier, then there is no way you can claim that UNI was not.

And complete resort? Well, many Disney fanbois and soccer blogging moms and BRAND advocates may disagree, but UNI has been a complete resort for years. Has it been lacking in some areas? Absolutely. But to say it wasn't a complete multi-day resort isn't a viable position except by a Disney fan.

The snowball has begun rolling and Disney has proven to be unwilling to put anything in its way. If Uni just makes a 3% reduction in WDW revenue each year for the foreseeable future, the effects will be devestating to the bottom line.

I have no idea what Potter is going to do for anyone's business, except for UNI's ... and there's a reason the folks who work at all levels of that resort don't look and act like they just had to put their beloved 18-year-old kitty to sleep (like many WDW workers look daily), but instead look proud, happy and confident.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I don't view it as a Potter issue in a vacuum because if WDW had continued to add, continued to innovate ... hell, just continued to care, I think Potter would simply help everyone in Central Florida, including the Mouse.

But stagnation, outright neglect, contempt for cast and guests and irresponsible spending (yes, talking NGE here all the way because what could you do -- or what could Comcast -- do with a few extra billion dollars?) are what keeps the empire standing.

Potter is just the latest major shot to Disney's business that they will answer with Harambe Nights, the Marketplace Co-Op, a new Starbucks (doesn't City Walk have one too?) and, of course, the SDMT that is being advertised here on ABC in Miami as I type.



Finally? See, call me a UNI fanboi and a Disney hater (I'm definitely one, but not the other!) but I'd argue that five years ago UNI was a top tier park. If you would say TPFKaTD-MGMS was/is top tier, then there is no way you can claim that UNI was not.

And complete resort? Well, many Disney fanbois and soccer blogging moms and BRAND advocates may disagree, but UNI has been a complete resort for years. Has it been lacking in some areas? Absolutely. But to say it wasn't a complete multi-day resort isn't a viable position except by a Disney fan.



I have no idea what Potter is going to do for anyone's business, except for UNI's ... and there's a reason the folks who work at all levels of that resort don't look and act like they just had to put their beloved 18-year-old kitty to sleep (like many WDW workers look daily), but instead look proud, happy and confident.

This is the biggest thing and I made a similar post a few pages back. Potter is a huge get for Universal because it brought them back from the brink. But Disney's lack of updates and additions since Potter have further exacerbated the problem.

 

[david10225]

It's just amazing to me what a "bargain" Universal is compared to Disney. I just booked a 3 night stay at Royal Pacific...granted it is later in August..probably after the Florida kids go back to school...and I bought a Universal 2 park Annual Pass. With that pass I saved 110 on my accommodations, and with the various 15% discounts on the City Walk restaurants, the pass is practically a wash, plus I will be on site, have the front of the line pass (of course not for Potter) and will have early entry. Sure...I can do it all in 3 days...but after multiple trips to Orlando, I really don't need a week there anymore. This will be my second consecutive trip to Orlando without setting a foot at the World....there is nothing new there to interest me.

 

[WDW1974]

One note on Compass Rose for the folks here interested and following because it's just so damn obvious, but why is a company that has a market capt of $140 billion (give or take) selling off its 'blessing of size' -- the very land behind the MK -- for a paltry $76,000 per acre to Horizon West for continued residential development (i.e. suburban sprawl)?

Isn't the less desirable Golden Oak (talking location here) selling for over $900,000 for a quarter of an acre (I might be a little and I do mean a little high on that)?

Anyone find this odd? Does WDW Co really need the $18 million (George and Andy could come up with that, no joke) that badly? Does TWDC need it? What would the motivation be behind the continued divestiture of land, land that was bough by Walt and his men in the mid-60s, that started under Eisner and has taken off under Iger?

What am I missing? And why did Compass Rose Corporation morph from an apparent real estate acquisition tool into a multi- platform cable operator -- TV/Internet/Telecom -- among other things?

Yeah, some of those 'other things' has this Spirit asking what the hell is Disney really doing?

Oh well, time for some hoops ...

 

[RSoxNo1]

One note on Compass Rose for the folks here interested and following because it's just so damn obvious, but why is a company that has a market capt of $140 billion (give or take) selling off its 'blessing of size' -- the very land behind the MK -- for a paltry $76,000 per acre to Horizon West for continued residential development (i.e. suburban sprawl)?

Isn't the less desirable Golden Oak (talking location here) selling for over $900,000 for a quarter of an acre (I might be a little and I do mean a little high on that)?

Anyone find this odd? Does WDW Co really need the $18 million (George and Andy could come up with that, no joke) that badly? Does TWDC need it? What would the motivation be behind the continued divestiture of land, land that was bough by Walt and his men in the mid-60s, that started under Eisner and has taken off under Iger?

What am I missing? And why did Compass Rose Corporation morph from an apparent real estate acquisition tool into a multi- platform cable operator -- TV/Internet/Telecom -- among other things?

Yeah, some of those 'other things' has this Spirit asking what the hell is Disney really doing?

Oh well, time for some hoops ...

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Compass_Rose_Corporation

 

[mahnamahna101]

I don't view it as a Potter issue in a vacuum because if WDW had continued to add, continued to innovate ... hell, just continued to care, I think Potter would simply help everyone in Central Florida, including the Mouse.

But stagnation, outright neglect, contempt for cast and guests and irresponsible spending (yes, talking NGE here all the way because what could you do -- or what could Comcast -- do with a few extra billion dollars?) are what keeps the empire standing.

Potter is just the latest major shot to Disney's business that they will answer with Harambe Nights, the Marketplace Co-Op, a new Starbucks (doesn't City Walk have one too?) and, of course, the SDMT that is being advertised here on ABC in Miami as I type.



Finally? See, call me a UNI fanboi and a Disney hater (I'm definitely one, but not the other!) but I'd argue that five years ago UNI was a top tier park. If you would say TPFKaTD-MGMS was/is top tier, then there is no way you can claim that UNI was not.

And complete resort? Well, many Disney fanbois and soccer blogging moms and BRAND advocates may disagree, but UNI has been a complete resort for years. Has it been lacking in some areas? Absolutely. But to say it wasn't a complete multi-day resort isn't a viable position except by a Disney fan.



I have no idea what Potter is going to do for anyone's business, except for UNI's ... and there's a reason the folks who work at all levels of that resort don't look and act like they just had to put their beloved 18-year-old kitty to sleep (like many WDW workers look daily), but instead look proud, happy and confident.

Yep, Disney had 2006-2014 to add new E-tickets, fix broken areas, redo Tomorrowland, etc... instead we got NextGen, a 3/4 finished New Fantasyland with no true E-ticket, and Toy Story Midway Mania (basically a video game in a moving vehicle). Diagon Alley might be the wakeup call for many pixie dusters. Kong and the KidZone replacement should help to shift the paradigm as well. By the 50th anniversary, both parks could easily equal Epcot's attendance IMO.

There'll be a time eventually when Universal gets 2 to 3 days while Disney might get 1 or 2 (MK and Epcot being the parks most people choose). Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom will get hurt bad by Comcast's rapid-fire additions to Universal. They're both in dire need of TLC, but TDO has refused to give them anything substantial since Everest and TSMM. 6 years for DHS, 8 years for DAK... just terrible. 11 years once Pandora finally opens its phase. Meanwhile, we just might see Middle Earth open completely by 2017 Universal is doing what Disney used to - take guests on exciting adventures to places never seen before.

 

[rioriz]

Spirit....can u do us a favor and clue us in on Tokyo's rumored 3rd gate.. .also about the Rat opening in DLP...

 

[rioriz]

Oh and since we have been on a Uni good trip I am really interested in hearing what you feel they can and should improve on...also I know u start threads here but would love u to start one on the Uni board so we can go there and give love to that board

 

[Nubs70]

One note on Compass Rose for the folks here interested and following because it's just so damn obvious, but why is a company that has a market capt of $140 billion (give or take) selling off its 'blessing of size' -- the very land behind the MK -- for a paltry $76,000 per acre to Horizon West for continued residential development (i.e. suburban sprawl)?

Isn't the less desirable Golden Oak (talking location here) selling for over $900,000 for a quarter of an acre (I might be a little and I do mean a little high on that)?

Anyone find this odd? Does WDW Co really need the $18 million (George and Andy could come up with that, no joke) that badly? Does TWDC need it? What would the motivation be behind the continued divestiture of land, land that was bough by Walt and his men in the mid-60s, that started under Eisner and has taken off under Iger?

What am I missing? And why did Compass Rose Corporation morph from an apparent real estate acquisition tool into a multi- platform cable operator -- TV/Internet/Telecom -- among other things?

Yeah, some of those 'other things' has this Spirit asking what the hell is Disney really doing?

Oh well, time for some hoops ...

I cannot believe it's for cash flow purposes as $18MM is nothing. I think it goes to show there is little desire to add additional gates. I take it as a signal that TWDC has become a business, stagnant holding company that is seeking to extract every molecule of quick value. Once all increased value is monetized and extracted, they will flip it.

 

[Omnispace]

One note on Compass Rose for the folks here interested and following because it's just so damn obvious, but why is a company that has a market capt of $140 billion (give or take) selling off its 'blessing of size' -- the very land behind the MK -- for a paltry $76,000 per acre to Horizon West for continued residential development (i.e. suburban sprawl)?

Isn't the less desirable Golden Oak (talking location here) selling for over $900,000 for a quarter of an acre (I might be a little and I do mean a little high on that)?

Anyone find this odd? Does WDW Co really need the $18 million (George and Andy could come up with that, no joke) that badly? Does TWDC need it? What would the motivation be behind the continued divestiture of land, land that was bough by Walt and his men in the mid-60s, that started under Eisner and has taken off under Iger?

What am I missing? And why did Compass Rose Corporation morph from an apparent real estate acquisition tool into a multi- platform cable operator -- TV/Internet/Telecom -- among other things?

Yeah, some of those 'other things' has this Spirit asking what the hell is Disney really doing?

Oh well, time for some hoops ...

If someone is selling property for an unusually cheap price -- doesn't that usually mean they are trying to avoid sort of tax?? There's also the possibility of selling property to another subsidiary of the company. I don't have an MBA so my knowledge of business thievery is limited. I'm sure there are lots of tricks out there that a good business attorney would know about.

 

[flynnibus]

And complete resort? Well, many Disney fanbois and soccer blogging moms and BRAND advocates may disagree, but UNI has been a complete resort for years. Has it been lacking in some areas? Absolutely. But to say it wasn't a complete multi-day resort isn't a viable position except by a Disney fan.

The problem is USF relied a bunch on shows... something the commando riders always overlook. The same exact mindset that calls DHS and DAK just a few hour diversions.. will say you can do all of USF and IOA in a day. Because they are running from headliner to headliner and skipping over everything else.. and then complaining the park has too little to do.

WWoHP was solid as it added several hours to explore on its own.. now with London adding to that.. its only better.

I wonder if they'll ever do a DCA v2 type reboot of USF and try to change its identity away from the production studio angle. I giggle when certain twitter users argue the detailed sets equate to 'themed lands'.

 

[Hula Popper]

If someone is selling property for an unusually cheap price -- doesn't that usually mean they are trying to avoid sort of tax?? There's also the possibility of selling property to another subsidiary of the company. I don't have an MBA so my knowledge of business thievery is limited. I'm sure there are lots of tricks out there that a good business attorney would know about.

I'm not at all familiar with the purported Disney sales, but if they are selling for $78k an acre, it doesn't appear that they are selling for an unusually cheap price. There was another recent and substantial land transaction in the Horizon West area not involving Disney where the land was sold at approximately $58k per acre.

 

[StageFrenzy]

Oh and since we have been on a Uni good trip I am really interested in hearing what you feel they can and should improve on...also I know u start threads here but would love u to start one on the Uni board so we can go there and give love to that board

Guest relations as a general rule blows at UNI. I don't like seeing cast walk through the parks with their uniform on.

 

[flynnibus]

Guest relations as a general rule blows at UNI. I don't like seeing cast walk through the parks with their uniform on.

Don't head to Disneyland then.. where you can see them wearing their uniform outside the parks too as they walk out the same entrance way as the guests out to Harbor, etc.

 

[StageFrenzy]

Don't head to Disneyland then.. where you can see them wearing their uniform outside the parks too as they walk out the same entrance way as the guests out to Harbor, etc.

How dare they, they should be in smelly underground corridors.

 

[Omnispace]

I'm not at all familiar with the purported Disney sales, but if they are selling for $78k an acre, it doesn't appear that they are selling for an unusually cheap price. There was another recent and substantial land transaction in the Horizon West area not involving Disney where the land was sold at approximately $58k per acre.

Thanks for putting the costs into the proper perspective.

 

[BrianLo]

Spirit....can u do us a favor and clue us in on Tokyo's rumored 3rd gate..

Based on something mentioned that I'm missing, or are you just asking?


The only Tokyo news I've seen (that has gone unmentioned here) is height test balloons for a TDL addition likely to Fantasyland. I can't 100% pin down the angle of the picture though where the site in question is located, but I'm betting someone here can do that for me in a jiffy.

The other question - is that taller than SDMT?