The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[marni1971]

I am so jealous. I've only met the drummer He was still a cool guy though. He served our food when we ate at his restaurant. Got a few things signed as anyone would

Nikko? Nice bloke. He and a roadie were having a pint in the pub behind a theatre in town before one of their gigs. The queue to get something signed was out the door. He would sign something, take a sip, sign the next thing, take another sip. So nice.

Sorry for the drift...

 

[rael ramone]

Yes, people tend to forget that the much beloved Tom Staggs was one of those who got to where they are now by way of Strategic Planning. The spirit of that unit is still very much alive at TWDC, you just need to look to see it even if it now does not have a specific name anymore.

Merely getting rid of 'bad Eisner' (as opposed to 'good Eisner' who saved the company) is like treating a bite by a rabid dog by merely getting the bite stitched up. TWDC is now foaming at the mouth....

 

[GoofGoof]

Wow...what an assumption. You are assuming people who make <$10 are addicted to credit cards and should not buy Apple products?

Who are you to tell people what to and what NOT to buy? You make it sound like people who only make that amount (most who work for Disney) are irresponsible.

I'm not saying anyone who makes less than $10 is irresponsible and addicted to credit cards. What I'm saying is there are plenty of people who can't afford things like IPhones or IPads but buy them anyway and a lot of the time it's on credit. I'm not telling anyone what to buy or not to buy. It's a free country.

The OP said that most of the people living close to DTD make <$10 per hour so they don't buy Apple products. I was just pointing out that that isn't necessarily true. I bet if you polled a group of CMs at WDW making $10/hour or less more than 25% of them have some Apple product. I've seen first hand people who are collecting food stamps and other government assistance pull out an IPhone to text someone.

 

[Cesar R M]

Apple products are much cheaper in the US than in the EU e.g iPad Air $499 (excl sales tax) vs ~$680 dollars at home. The only reason I went to Mall at Millenia last time was to pick one up. I'd imagine that's a fairly common story for most of us over here. It's the same for most tech products. Looking at a Sony A6000 at the moment and there's huge savings in America.

IMHO, Printers is where the savings are.
most high end printers have from 200 to 400 rebate.
a lot of them are on ebay.

and I agree with you on savings..
I usually use my trips to the US to purchase new hardware that is either not available in my country, or ridiculously overpriced. (I've seen laptops going for 3x the price in the US, which is dumb. As you can buy directly from the company and shipped to your home for less)

 

[rael ramone]

Speaking of Disney things... has anyone ever read "Disney Wars"? I finally got around to reading it and I am still shaking my head. If only half of it is true, then Disney, at least under Eisner, was one giant cesspool of dysfunctional executives that were paid so much that they were unable to overcome a power mad leader. I would be interested in knowing if other companies are run like this. I am amazed that Disney is still in existence. The team of Roy Disney and Stanley Gold are no longer. I worry about the fate of the place without these two. The two of them brought down the evil giant when no one thought he could be pushed out.

Or are we still talking about Apple as if anyone cares other then a couple of ya!

There's a part of me that want's to join the 'avatar bandwagon'.... but I just can't say bye to Rizzo, who had his Meet & Greet under Spaceship Earth last fall to advertise TDO's committment to Park Cleanliness....

 

[GoofGoof]

Speaking of Disney things... has anyone ever read "Disney Wars"? I finally got around to reading it and I am still shaking my head. If only half of it is true, then Disney, at least under Eisner, was one giant cesspool of dysfunctional executives that were paid so much that they were unable to overcome a power mad leader. I would be interested in knowing if other companies are run like this. I am amazed that Disney is still in existence. The team of Roy Disney and Stanley Gold are no longer. I worry about the fate of the place without these two. The two of them brought down the evil giant when no one thought he could be pushed out.

Or are we still talking about Apple as if anyone cares other then a couple of ya!

We're still talking about Apple

I read Disney War. It's a good read, but you have to take some of it with a grain of salt. The stories have to be good to sell books. It's funny to read that side of the stories and then read Eisner's autobiography (A work in Progress) to hear some of the same stories from his prospective. TWDC is not much different than many Fortune 500 companies. Eisner had a lot more charisma and ego than most CEOs. He also brought incredible results. I would take Eisner back over Staggs or Rasuolu any day. He had some flaws, but he had some serious stones too.

 

[Cesar R M]

Wow...what an assumption. You are assuming people who make <$10 are addicted to credit cards and should not buy Apple products?

Who are you to tell people what to and what NOT to buy? You make it sound like people who only make that amount (most who work for Disney) are irresponsible.

they could always sell their kidneys
just like that chinese guy who sold his to buy the newest ipad.

 

[Mickey_777]

But you are right about the psychology factor. People are far more likely to want to go to a place that has an upscale reputation than Walt Disney World. Not saying Disney Springs won't be nice (the concept art looks great from what i've seen), but the stigma that it's "Disney" could drive the locals away. Or possibly that they had bad experiences parking there within the last year or two...

Disney World and the Disney name continue to have an upscale reputation in most circles. If we're talking upper class Florida locals, then I can see where everyone is coming from saying they'd rather go to Millennia. Apple at Disney Springs will get plenty of traffic from both international and other americans who have plenty of money cause, well, they can afford a Disney World vacation.

 

[flynnibus]

Well to be honest, the plans aren't really cheaper and some carriers will continue to charge you monthly for the phone even after its "paid off". It's really just trickery. The only way to save money is to procure an unlocked phone, which there are a few great choices now, and activate it. Only downside is that it has to be with a GSM carrier, at&t or t mobile.

I know.. and why I said "all they are doing is moving the phone subsidy out of the monthly contract price.. and asking you to pay the full price of the phone"

They reduce your bill $15... but make you buy a phone (outright or on an installment plan). The resale market convolutes the break-even as well.. because you used to be able to resell a subsidized phone and be much further ahead then you would be reselling a phone you paid outright for.

If I bought a phone for $200+tax.. paid $15 carrier fee for 2yrs = ~$570 I can sell the phone for for $100-200 to pay for my next phone too.

Under next.. I pay $600+tax.. and after 12 or 18m.. I can pay $600 again.

How you upgrade or not impacts the comparison. The longer you hold your phone, the better the new deals are. The old model you kept 'paying for your phone' even after you paid it off.

 

[scpergj]

First, you are a decade too soon ... and it was a Mustang, not a Camaro. Not ever. Multiple Mustangs actually ...

Same. My Mustangs were a '67 (289 HiPo, green metallic over green) and an '89 (5.0 LX fastback, 65mm throttle body, ate Camaros for lunch). Aah...sometimes I miss being young and stupid...

 

[roj2323]

Frozen is coming to DHS.
Some dudes like My Little Pony
More talk about sandwiches
Universal Studios apparently just opened something new and its pretty nifty.
Disney has nothing significant right now.

sounds like I haven't missed much.

 

[Goofyernmost]

How is the evil giant gone when Strategic Planning was never exiled?

I'm talking personalities here and how they influenced how things were carried out. The same Strategic Planning can easily be administered completely differently by someone else and not be so harmful. With that said, I have no idea if Iger is from the exact same mold as Eisner when it came to that and also how much he has tweaked the SP.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Merely getting rid of 'bad Eisner' (as opposed to 'good Eisner' who saved the company) is like treating a bite by a rabid dog by merely getting the bite stitched up. TWDC is now foaming at the mouth....

I understand and that is a direct result of not having the rabid dog put down soon enough.

I read Disney War. It's a good read, but you have to take some of it with a grain of salt. The stories have to be good to sell books. It's funny to read that side of the stories and then read Eisner's autobiography (A work in Progress) to hear some of the same stories from his prospective. TWDC is not much different than many Fortune 500 companies. Eisner had a lot more charisma and ego than most CEOs. He also brought incredible results. I would take Eisner back over Staggs or Rasuolu any day. He had some flaws, but he had some serious stones too.

I sort of compare him to Michael Jackson. When he was on the road to super stardom he did some wonderful stuff. Later when it all infected his ability to think, he no longer was able to write music to any degree of success that he had before and in fact went absolutely looney. Eisner did some wonderful stuff early in his time at Disney. I do not wish to take any of the away from him (and Frank), however after a long tenure as a man as powerful as he was, he became to believe that he was Disney and without him it had no chance of survival. On top of that he started to lose the talent he once had to "pick" things that were going to be successful, instead he let his ego get in his way. He felt that he was the only one that knew things and no matter how many failures came his way, he never let go of that. One prime example is paying 4 Billion more for ABC Family then it was worth. He had the board so intimidated that they never said anything about it. Any other CEO would have been shown the road. Yes, he did save the Disney Company in the 80's and then proceeded to come close to destroying it in the late 90's, early 2000's. If there was any good reason for keeping Eisner it might be that by now both Staggs and Rasuolu would be have been in the unemployment line years ago. His paranoia was that severe.

If I have to get an overview of the Eisner years, it certainly wouldn't be through his eyes. I trust outside information far more, but, always with a sense that there is a lot of exaggeration on both sides. When Eisner left, Iger was not really a prime candidate due to the fact that he was in charge of the money sucking ABC stations. How he managed to get to the top, is a mystery not yet divulged to me. However, it does make me think that it is always possible that neither Staggs or Rasuolu will get the job.

 

[bhg469]

Same. My Mustangs were a '67 (289 HiPo, green metallic over green) and an '89 (5.0 LX fastback, 65mm throttle body, ate Camaros for lunch). Aah...sometimes I miss being young and stupid...

My little ol' subaru was a few blocks away before the Camaro guys finally hooked their tires

 

[WildcatDen]

View attachment 57578

Pretty cool that Steve is wearing a Van Halen T

 

[Goofyernmost]

An interesting, if not minor, experience just happened. When I came to sign a few minutes ago I saw that on my e-mail I had a Disney Survey request. I thought, what the hell, let's do it. Well, I got to the first question and it was what is your family income. Since I am retired, my yearly income is very small... planned that way. So I clicked on the actual figure and the next screen was... Sorry, but we are looking for a different parameter in this case. Have a Magical Day.

They never asked me if I had money in investments, bank deposits or simply stuffed in my pillowcases. I was just dismissed because my "yearly" didn't pass the test. I now wish I had lied just to see where the questions led me.

Spoiler

Just in case anyone is getting thoughts that I have money stuffed in my pillowcases, don't bother, I don't. However, my freezer might have some cold cash in it.

Spoiler

If I were you, I wouldn't count on that either.

 

[Mike S]

An interesting, if not minor, experience just happened. When I came to sign a few minutes ago I saw that on my e-mail I had a Disney Survey request. I thought, what the hell, let's do it. Well, I got to the first question and it was what is your family income. Since I am retired, my yearly income is very small... planned that way. So I clicked on the actual figure and the next screen was... Sorry, but we are looking for a different parameter in this case. Have a Magical Day.

They never asked me if I had money in investments, bank deposits or simply stuffed in my pillowcases. I was just dismissed because my "yearly" didn't pass the test. I now wish I had lied just to see where the questions led me.

Spoiler

Just in case anyone is getting thoughts that I have money stuffed in my pillowcases, don't bother, I don't. However, my freezer might have some cold cash in it.

Spoiler

If I were you, I wouldn't count on that either.

The money grabbing never ends does it?

 

[WDF]

An interesting, if not minor, experience just happened. When I came to sign a few minutes ago I saw that on my e-mail I had a Disney Survey request. I thought, what the hell, let's do it. Well, I got to the first question and it was what is your family income. Since I am retired, my yearly income is very small... planned that way. So I clicked on the actual figure and the next screen was... Sorry, but we are looking for a different parameter in this case. Have a Magical Day.

They never asked me if I had money in investments, bank deposits or simply stuffed in my pillowcases. I was just dismissed because my "yearly" didn't pass the test. I now wish I had lied just to see where the questions led me.

Spoiler

Just in case anyone is getting thoughts that I have money stuffed in my pillowcases, don't bother, I don't. However, my freezer might have some cold cash in it.

Spoiler

If I were you, I wouldn't count on that either.

Was there a "prefer not to answer" type option? Just curious.

 

[crispy]

An interesting, if not minor, experience just happened. When I came to sign a few minutes ago I saw that on my e-mail I had a Disney Survey request. I thought, what the hell, let's do it. Well, I got to the first question and it was what is your family income. Since I am retired, my yearly income is very small... planned that way. So I clicked on the actual figure and the next screen was... Sorry, but we are looking for a different parameter in this case. Have a Magical Day.

They never asked me if I had money in investments, bank deposits or simply stuffed in my pillowcases. I was just dismissed because my "yearly" didn't pass the test. I now wish I had lied just to see where the questions led me.

Spoiler

Just in case anyone is getting thoughts that I have money stuffed in my pillowcases, don't bother, I don't. However, my freezer might have some cold cash in it.

Spoiler

If I were you, I wouldn't count on that either.

I wonder if it was a question a bout the new VIP tours.

 

[PhotoDave219]

An interesting, if not minor, experience just happened. When I came to sign a few minutes ago I saw that on my e-mail I had a Disney Survey request. I thought, what the hell, let's do it. Well, I got to the first question and it was what is your family income. Since I am retired, my yearly income is very small... planned that way. So I clicked on the actual figure and the next screen was... Sorry, but we are looking for a different parameter in this case. Have a Magical Day.

They never asked me if I had money in investments, bank deposits or simply stuffed in my pillowcases. I was just dismissed because my "yearly" didn't pass the test. I now wish I had lied just to see where the questions led me.

Spoiler

Just in case anyone is getting thoughts that I have money stuffed in my pillowcases, don't bother, I don't. However, my freezer might have some cold cash in it.

Spoiler

If I were you, I wouldn't count on that either.

I was found it interesting when I was giving the surveys that they were looking for X number of people that fit Y criteria.

I don't understand why they didn't want to increase the sample size. That never made any sense to me.

And it when you came right down to it the people we were surveying were generally just English-speaking people. And out of that it was less than 1% of daily attendance at the kingdom.

Several others questions of the research methodology… me? I'll admit it, I was a bad cast member. On break? I grab a T-shirt and go right a roller coaster. I never got written up for is my boss used to do it.... But I was told knockoff the crap.