The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
Captain Neo said:
Total hyperbole.

The second half of Eisner's tenure was far worse as we got consistent attraction closures shout replacements, maintenance went down across the board, the rides being greenlit were mostly ultra low budget movie tie ins that were overlayed over once unique attractions (stitch great escape, buzz light year), and failures like "new tomorrowland 98" and california adventure. Worst of all it was here where policies were put in place that are still hurting the parks today.
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Iger has been CEO for nearly 9 years. He's had plenty of time to undo those Eisner policies you complain about, if he wanted to.

Generally, I've not read many claim that maintenance, movie tie-in overlays, attraction closures, quality, prices, etc. have improved since 2005. Quite the contrary, most seem to think that, at WDW, things are much worse than in 2005. Please feel free to debate these subjective points endlessly. However, with regard to many of these items, my opinion is that Iger simply refined the trend started by Eisner. (Bring back the printed napkins my children used to collect! :D)

Please read my earlier post here for numbers to back up calling Iger the worst CEO ever for P&R, even during Eisner's 'bad' years.
 
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Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
Amazon and Disney are in a bit of a fight apparently:

Source: http://nyti.ms/1vrBv10

"Amazon is refusing to allow orders for physical copies of forthcoming releases from yet another media company.

The supplier in the cross hairs this time is Disney. Amazon customers are unable to buy DVDs or Blu-rays of movies like “Muppets Most Wanted” that are coming out in the next few months. Instead, they can sign up to be notified when the movies become available or preorder the Amazon Instant Video.

In at least one case, there seems to be no product page at all for the physical copy of the movie. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is available for preorder as an Amazon Instant Video, but neither a Blu-ray disc nor a DVD is offered.

Preorders are a way for an entertainment company to gauge demand. Consumers have increasingly been trained to want something the moment it becomes available, so if they do not have the ability to order ahead, the companies worry, the customer will not buy a product when it hits the market.

Eliminating the preorder button is thus a potent weapon for Amazon. It declined to take orders for Warner Home Video for several weeks at the beginning of the summer. And it has been engaged in a pitched battle with Hachette for months, causing some of the publisher’s authors to see their sales on the site drop by half.

Disney did not return calls for comment. An Amazon spokesman declined to comment, but in the past the company has stressed that disputes with suppliers were routine for retailers.

They certainly are becoming that way at Amazon. One theory is that the company, always a tough negotiator, is losing so much money that it is trying to get an edge anywhere it possibly can. Amazon says it could lose more than $800 million this quarter.

The conflict with Disney was first reported by HomeMediaMagazine.com."
 
ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
Mike S said:
Nothing but great news. The more this happens the more chance we have of TDO feeling pressure to actually do something. It's a minuscule chance, but a chance nonetheless. Go Universal!!!!!! Shoot for the stars!!!!!!!!!
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No, Universal's theme parks reportedly outdrawing 3 of WDW's 4 theme parks is not great news.

I want WDW to be successful. I want WDW to improve. I want WDW to beat Universal.

Great news would be corporate Disney taking the steps necessary to make those things happen.

Reports that Uni might be outdrawing any WDW theme park is simply depressing. :depressed:
 
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seahawk7

seahawk7

Well-Known Member
Cosmic Commando said:
The Circle D is a backstage area to take care of the MSUSA horses, as well as the other critters that have ended up at Disneyland. There's a petting zoo there, and the presidentially-pardoned turkeys used to live out their days at Disneyland for a while. The similar facility at WDW is at Ft. Wilderness (Tri-Circle D?) and the horses commute to MK. Nobody will honestly miss the petting zoo if it's replaced with something instead of just being shuttered.

Big Thunder Ranch is really just an area for seasonal events. Nobody will miss it.

The Fantasyland Theater is getting close to "missing it". The current show there is good, but not great (by my experience and estimation of others' reviews). Nobody expects that particular show to last forever, in contrast with the outcry when the Toy Story Musical was supposed to replace Aladdin at DCA. For some reason, people generally think that shows have less repeatability than rides do; with the heavily local base, I think that definitely factors in. There's nothing really special about the theater itself... although Disney did spend money to upgrade it just a few years ago for the current show that's there. Again, I think it's the kind of thing that people would complain about if it was just being closed instead of replaced.

Toontown's closing will be by far the toughest sell to the fans. There's three things going for the land: the Roger Rabbit dark ride, Mickey & Minnie's houses, and the overall art direction of the land is very good. BUT, there's a bunch of underutilized space and much of the land has been lawyerized. It's not what it once was. I'm assuming Disney will have to do something with Mickey & Minnie both for operations purposes and PR purposes, but I could definitely see them discarding the Roger Rabbit ride. That will be the toughest sell.
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I just see Star Wars Land breaking up the continuity of Frontierland, New Orleans Square, and Critter Country if it's where you want to put it. Not to mention FL. It would fit only in TL theming wise. If it is too big for TL then don't put it in DL, and I a HUGE SW fan and could visit DL more easily than WDW so it would be benefitial to me if DL or its sister park across the way had it. But if it doesn't fit then take it to Florida.
 
monothingie

monothingie

Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb.
Premium Member
marni1971 said:
Earnings don't always equate to attendance for definite numbers. Especially for a topic like this. Anyway, Q4 would be more interesting for July and August.
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Just to clarify, they stated strong continued growth in theme park revenue. It doesn't necessarily mean that it has solely been because of "cash grab" (TM) type events. There has to be some growth in attendance figured in there.
 
Tony Perkis

Tony Perkis

Well-Known Member
ParentsOf4 said:
No, Universal's theme parks reportedly outdrawing 3 of WDW's 4 theme parks is not great news.

I want WDW to be successful. I want WDW to improve. I want WDW to beat Universal.

Great news would be corporate Disney taking the steps necessary to make those things happen.

Reports that Uni might be outdrawing any WDW theme park is simply depressing. :depressed:
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Depressing? How do you react when something truly important actually happens?
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
ParentsOf4 said:
2004, when both P&R revenue and operating income were 25% of the company as a whole.

Recall that Iger became CEO in 2005.

Generally, the data suggests (to me) that Iger & his team have been effective at running The Walt Disney Company's other segments.

IMHO, Iger has been a good CEO for the company as a whole. However, Iger has been a bad CEO for Parks & Resorts, certainly the worst CEO for that particular segment since Disneyland opened in 1955.
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I couldn't have asked for a better answer. I would have thought that Iger had one year where revenue and operating income were in line, but I guess not. What's weird is that movies are pretty cut and dry. You give the movie a production budget and an advertising budget and the money that it earns is pretty straight forward. I suspect the main issue with the parks is that it was much harder to quantify success.
 
Cosmic Commando

Cosmic Commando

Well-Known Member
seahawk7 said:
I just see Star Wars Land breaking up the continuity of Frontierland, New Orleans Square, and Critter Country if it's where you want to put it. Not to mention FL. It would fit only in TL theming wise. If it is too big for TL then don't put it in DL, and I a HUGE SW fan and could visit DL more easily than WDW so it would be benefitial to me if DL or its sister park across the way had it. But if it doesn't fit then take it to Florida.
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It would be (figuratively) miles away from the NOS-Adventureland-Frontierland-Critter Country area. Having an area like that allows you to sort of set the precedent that it is going to be something different. If they do go ahead with this plan, then I see Marvel taking up the space in Tomorrowland. I highly highly doubt it will be STARWARSTARWARSTARWARSit'sasmallworldSTARWARSTARWARS. It will be Tomorrowland as the mishmash that it has been for a while, the Nemo Subs and the Matterhorn create a pretty good Fantasyland-Tomorrowland buffer, followed by the IASW area, followed by the new Star Wars area on the other side of the train tracks. That's if Star Tours even stays in its current spot. On big projects, extra money gets thrown in to do things you otherwise wouldn't bother with. It probably depends on how much Marvel they want to do in Tomorrowland.
 
Stevek

Stevek

Well-Known Member
I'm a little torn on the whole Star Wars/Toontown situation.
  • Love Star Wars but was never in favor of it taking over or having a significantly larger presence in Tomorrowland
  • Location...I actually think I'm ok with it. SW is space Fantasy and sitting near Fantasyland in a area that is somewhat secluded could work. The whole fireworks closure thing could make things challenging though. Can't imagine them shutting down that whole section many nights.
  • While I think Toontown is a wonderfully themed area, it's not a place we visit often nor did we visit it much when my girls were younger
  • Not really concerned about them taking away an area that is focused on kids. Disneyland is overflowing with other kid friendly options.
  • But what to do with the Mickey and Minnie meet and greets. Create something new near the old motor boat cruise docks or heaven forbid, move them to the Opera House? If you think fanbois out here are angry about NOS, I can only imagine how many will spontaneously combust if this were to happen.
  • If it is converted to SW land, Star Tours will absolutely have to be relocated which will take up a big chunk of the usable space.
  • Which leads me to my biggest question/concern, space. Toontown is not big as others pointed out. IF they only utilize the current footprint of Toontown for this new SW land, I'm not going to get overly excited about it, especially if a portion of it is a relocated Star Tours. Go Big or Go Home Disney...use some of the backstage area and make this truly something special.
So, if Disney can utilize the space (and more) and create something that is as special as Cars Land from a themeing perspective but stronger on rides, I'll be a happy camper. Maybe at that point we'll finally start going back again since we won't be renewing when AP's expire early next year. Granted we likely won't see anything until 2020...and I'll be really old by then.
 
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ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
monothingie said:
Just to clarify, they stated strong continued growth in theme park revenue. (separating it from the rest of the divisions)
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By Iger standards, 2014Q3 was a solid quarter for Parks & Resorts revenue growth. However, as Disney noted in its earnings release, some of that growth was due to the Easter week schedule.

It's better to look at the first 9 months to appreciate how Disney is doing year-to-year.

For the first 9 months, P&R revenue is up 7%, which is more than 2% below the average for the previous 3 years.

Disney's strategy of perpetual price increase is beginning to take its toll, as vacationers adjust their spending patterns to take into account higher prices.

Stated differently, if I spend 12% more for my WDW ticket (there have been 2 ticket price increases in the last 12 months), I'm more likely to curb my spending on WDW food and merchandise.

People's pay hasn't kept up with WDW prices.

if Parks & Resorts revenue growth finishes at 7% for FY2014, it will represent the worst P&R growth ever for a non-recession year.
 
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