The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
Fe Maiden said:
You have to be either 70 years old or have a major character flaw. Spending the evening at Cape May was one of the lamest things ever as a kid.

Friday night: Head down the shore when parents get home from work, pick up pizzas and cheesesteaks at A & LP. Get to stay up all hours of the night.

Saturday: Beach all day, junk it on the boards, Macks' Pizza, waffles and ice cream, Douglas Fudge, Lime Rickeys, etc. Awesome rides, the Flyer and Golden Nugget on Hunt's Pier, the coasters on Morey's and Mariner's, Dracula's Castle (the walk-through)and Dracula's Dungeon (the boatride, think POC but evil and scary).

Sunday: Beach all day, dinner at the Country House on Route 9, and an evening stroll in Cape May. BOOOOOORRRIIING!!
Click to expand...

You failed to play mini golf or skee ball.

Those are glaring character defects no matter what shore town you went to.
 
Soarin' Over Pgh

Soarin' Over Pgh

Well-Known Member
Lord_Vader said:
I know quite a few kids who have parents that are mostly absentee because they are both working full time and so focused on sending their kids to private schools and supporting various community projects and after school activities they never spend much real time with their children.
Click to expand...

Sadly this is becoming more common. Good on them for being able to afford, and making the decision to, send the children to private schools and having community projects in place for afterwards. It's a shame kids can't spend a lot of time with their parents, but parents gotta pay the bills and it's the hardest tradeoff a family could make. Even more so in a single parent family.

If people are working this hard just to keep the basic necessities of life- how on earth can they be expected to afford a vacation?

You can only charge so much before the Visa bill comes in.
 
Lord_Vader

Lord_Vader

Join me, together we can rule the galaxy.
Soarin' Over Pgh said:
Sadly this is becoming more common. Good on them for being able to afford, and making the decision to, send the children to private schools and having community projects in place for afterwards. It's a shame kids can't spend a lot of time with their parents, but parents gotta pay the bills and it's the hardest tradeoff a family could make. Even more so in a single parent family.

If people are working this hard just to keep the basic necessities of life- how on earth can they be expected to afford a vacation?

You can only charge so much before the Visa bill comes in.
Click to expand...

Yep, I spend my time coaching to be there with my son and now bring him back to help work with the young kids (he gives to the community too) but it is a family thing, we do it together. We don't drop him off and go hang out at the local bar with a deck and drink until game time or practice is over.

And my dual income was more a statement of values because many work to send their kids to private school and the private schools here (many but not all) are more about income separation and race than better education for the most part. The main public HS here is top ranked in the state, highest per-student college scholarship and graduation rates too but has a good number of minority and poor students.
 
Nemo14

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
Lord_Vader said:
I know quite a few kids who have parents that are mostly absentee because they are both working full time and so focused on sending their kids to private schools and supporting various community projects and after school activities they never spend much real time with their children.
Click to expand...
I was fortunate enough to be a SAHM for my kids when they were little. Once they were both in school, I volunteered on various school-related committees and eventually was elected President of the Parent-Teacher group and appointed to a position on the Board of Governors for the city. All of a sudden I was out at meetings more than I was home and I barely saw my kids. I made my decision right then to step back from it all, and go back to being Mom.
 
Fe Maiden

Fe Maiden

Well-Known Member
PhotoDave219 said:
You failed to play mini golf or skee ball.

Those are glaring character defects no matter what shore town you went to.
Click to expand...


We played a lot of mini golf and skeeball, usually a day or two later, just don't remember it at Cape May.

As a kid Cape May was to Wildwood what the Village was to WDW. Please, anything but that. Though the Village was OK if we stayed in the treehouses or fairway villas because of being able to drive a golf cart. But if we were staying somewhere else a ride over to the Village was the equivalent of death.
 
Lord_Vader

Lord_Vader

Join me, together we can rule the galaxy.
Nemo14 said:
I was fortunate enough to be a SAHM for my kids when they were little. Once they were both in school, I volunteered on various school-related committees and eventually was elected President of the Parent-Teacher group and appointed to a position on the Board of Governors for the city. All of a sudden I was out at meetings more than I was home and I barely saw my kids. I made my decision right then to step back from it all, and go back to being Mom.
Click to expand...

I applaud you for making a hard decision like that! I view my children's long term success my #1 priority, success being that they are productive to society, good to their communities and have a healthy and happy personal life. Hopefully I provided the leadership, training and opportunity they need to fulfill their goals. Right now my son is 17 and thinks he is going to play professional baseball, we'll see but I will be happy when he gets a useful degree and has a job that makes him happy. My daughter (21) is studying to become a teacher, working with young children makes here happy so that makes me happy.
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
Fe Maiden said:
We played a lot of mini golf and skeeball, usually a day or two later, just don't remember it at Cape May.

As a kid Cape May was to Wildwood what the Village was to WDW. Please, anything but that. Though the Village was OK if we stayed in the treehouses or fairway villas because of being able to drive a golf cart. But if we were staying somewhere else a ride over to the Village was the equivalent of death.
Click to expand...

I've spent many a summer at Cape May. First time I ever touched a shark! In the ocean! With my leg! .... and then spent the rest of the vacation on the beach, because screw that.
 
Cesar R M

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
JediMasterMatt said:
Promotion gets the turnstiles to spin and gets people into the park; but, after they are there - experience takes over. Even if an attraction earns its spot on the front of the park map for the month or even if it has FastPass, that doesn't translate into it earning the respect and popularity to pull guests to it and away from other attractions.

Stitch is a perfect example of this. It has decent capacity; but, the real reason for the lack of lines is that even in a park like the MK, even the casual tourist is confronted with the "re-ride" proposition. Determining which attraction they will visit again. Repeat business on attractions like Stitch just aren't deserving of the time investment on vacation (which your time on vacation is finite and the most valuable commodity). A five minute wait on Stitch isn't worth the 20 minutes spent total in the line, preshow, attraction. Guests would rather take their vaction hours elsewhere.

So, you can steer/crowd shape guests all you want from "popular" attractions to "under-utilized" assets all you want; but, when push comes to shove and you are staring into the lifeless abyss of your smartphone app or FP+ kiosk and you see a short wait time available for something like Stitch or Imagination, the value propostition of your investment of time is directly impacted by the quality of the attraction.

If you want to make lines for Space, Splash, Everest, Soarin', TSMM, Pan and the like shorter, the only way to do that is by adding in capacity. "New" always helps in that the shiny object gets all the attention; but, new also is different - which is what the historical guest patterns at the resort have already determined they want. They don't want to invest in Stitch. Either prune it by plussing the attraction or add something in worth the time investment elsewhere. The last thing that needs to take place is for the under-utilized attractions to go away. Even if guest ride it once and don't do so again, they are still helping. The parks are needing more. More in the form of new or more in the form of improved. The last several years have brought very little of either other than trying to change the way guests visit what is already there.

What certainly can't happen is exactly what has been happening - do as little as possible as you try to figure out a way to get guests to spend time in attractions they've already decided they don't want to wait in line for.
Click to expand...

You know, I wonder why they dont modify the whole ideal of Stitch's scape with something akin to midway mania.. Where the visitors (kids) gets a laser and helps Stitch knock down security things.. before going to the "security chamber" where stitch escapes.
 
S

seascape

Well-Known Member
PhotoDave219 said:
How dare you, proud scotsman, for insinuating that *I* have an EGO! Now Leggo my Ego!
Click to expand...
Good one. I used to spent my anniversary in Cape May but now we go to WDW.

I grew up and live at the northern shore. In fact my grandmother was born in a tent in Ocean Grove. I remember how nice Asbury Park was when I was a kid in the 60's. Long Branch used to have a major pier with lots of rides. I wish Disney had actually built the Boardwalk correctly and had an amusement park. A boardwalk needs an amusement park. Even Manasquan used to have a small one.

I miss the old shore and what it used to be like. The economy in the 60's, 70's and 80's took a major toll. Then Sandy came an took so much more. Belmar still has not rebuilt the pavilions. Avon is just about back but it's not the same. Manasquan lots so many houses and the rebuilt ones are not the same. Drive the strip to Seaside still makes me cry. The shore is not the same. Disney's claim to have built the Boardwalk after the jersey shore falls substantially short. It's still my favorite resort because of its location but it's not the Jersey Shore Boardwalk and never will be unless Disney finally build a small amusement park. Too bad, I don't think they ever will.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
Fe Maiden said:
You have to be either 70 years old or have a major character flaw. Spending the evening at Cape May was one of the lamest things ever as a kid.

Friday night: Head down the shore when parents get home from work, pick up pizzas and cheesesteaks at A & LP. Get to stay up all hours of the night.

Saturday: Beach all day, junk it on the boards, Macks' Pizza, waffles and ice cream, Douglas Fudge, Lime Rickeys, etc. Awesome rides, the Flyer and Golden Nugget on Hunt's Pier, the coasters on Morey's and Mariner's, Dracula's Castle (the walk-through)and Dracula's Dungeon (the boatride, think POC but evil and scary).

Sunday: Beach all day, dinner at the Country House on Route 9, and an evening stroll in Cape May. BOOOOOORRRIIING!!
Click to expand...

Don't ever goto the outter banks.. what you described would be 'big city living' compared to a vacation in the OBX
 
baymenxpac

baymenxpac

Well-Known Member
photoginit said:
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...summer-fun-live-at-disneys-hollywood-studios/

I guess we are now officially Letting it Go or aka

"Disney's Frozen cash grab and attempt to boost attendance at the Studios and hey guys don't pay attention to the 2 new rides and land at that park down the road here's more Anna and Elsa summer fun time!"
Click to expand...

in fairness to disney, i actually think this is good thing. frozen is a smash with kids, and before this announcement, they didn't have the bandwidth to keep up with the in-park demand for it.

a story, again anecdotal, but take it as you like: i helped a client of mine plan a quick two park visit to WDW in early may. he and his wife have one daughter, age 7, and the only thing disney she really has an attachment to is frozen. so when they were met with a four hour line for the anna and elsa M&G, she was more than a little bummed. because they're good parents and the kid is well adjusted, she moved on and enjoyed the rest of MK, and a day later, AK. but when i talked to him when he got back, he told me it did put a little damper on the proceedings.

now put that experience in the hands of reactionary, crazy people whose "WHOLE TRIP WOULD BE RUINED" if they didn't experience anything frozen, and i get disney expanding its presence in DHS. its not like there's much of substance there anyway, so might as well try to drive traffic there one way or another.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom