The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[doctornick]

And Jason's point is that Star Wars weekends is patronize mostly by the same people over and over again. And I got to back up on that one.

I have little doubt that this is true. I just don't think SWW are all that relevant in evaluating the strength of the brand and popularity among the masses. The people who make it a special point to attend are likely the most obsessed of fans, but doesn't describe the mass of people who enjoy and get excited by Star Wars and would be drawn in by a WWOHP level land for the franchise.

My point is that the audience today from frozen ridiculously out through the audience from Star Wars weekends. Based on just mere observational data.

Doesn't surprise me at all. The target audience for Frozen is basically the same people who already make up the bulk of WDW's guests. Having the Frozen events at DHS means (to me) that the people who already were going to WDW are spending an extra day at DHS and/or spending an extra night there in order see the Frozen stuff. Maybe spending two extra days there to see it twice.

I don't think I'm saying anything groundbreaking in pointing out that (a) princess stuff is already kinda huge among WDW guests and (b) Frozen is ridiculously popular among that crowd. I don't think this is (by and large) people making specific plans to go to WDW this summer to see the Frozen offerings, but people who were already going anyway.

 

[twebber55]

Here's something that's probably going to be unpopular and irritate several of you…

So I finally checked out the frozen fireworks spectacular summer fun shindig. The crowd? Easily two or three times bigger then the Star Wars fireworks crowd.

It's pretty ridiculous… on the other hand? I can't say the last time I saw the studios that crowded on an average Tuesday night in the summer.

but why should it irritate people...Frozen is popular right now

 

[asianway]

How 'bout them Sea World earnings?

Looks like the excuses the past few conference calls caught up with them.

#thebrain

 

[doctornick]

but why should it irritate people...Frozen is popular right now

I think the idea is that it would irritate people who think Star Wars is very popular -- but I don't see how the popularity of Frozen reflects on that at all.

 

[71jason]

How 'bout them Sea World earnings?

Only a matter of months before the chain is sold off, either as a whole or in pieces, right? After the reported mess at BGW last year and all?

 

[71jason]

I think the idea is that it would irritate people who think Star Wars is very popular -- but I don't see how the popularity of Frozen reflects on that at all.

More Star Wars is popular among Internet demographics (read as tech-savvy males, or nerdy man-children), while Frozen is not.

It's the Wall-E v. Cars dynamic all over again.

 

[asianway]

Only a matter of months before the chain is sold off, either as a whole or in pieces, right? After the reported mess at BGW last year and all?

It's a shame but no one will learn. A corrupt management team will lie cheat and distort the truth as long as they can to save their hide.

But there were no red flags here when they chose their CFO, right?

#thebrain

 

[doctornick]

More Star Wars is popular among Internet demographics (read as tech-savvy males, or nerdy man-children), while Frozen is not.

It's the Wall-E v. Cars dynamic all over again.

The merchandise sales for Star Wars suggest that it a wide mainstream following. I'll not deny that there is an obsessive subset of fans that indeed are vocal online. That doesn't reflect the more casual fans that are far more diverse and plentiful. I'm not really sure which franchise is Star Wars in you analogy -- seems like it's more Cars than Wall-E to me.

My point would remain that SWWs are a poor benchmark for illustrating SW appeal to the masses. The people who would make a special trip for that are the same type of obsessive folks that go to SW Celebration or Comic-Con. But the money made by the prequels and merch sales aren't carried by the folks who dress up as a Kel Dor for a convention.

 

[GoofGoof]

Only a matter of months before the chain is sold off, either as a whole or in pieces, right? After the reported mess at BGW last year and all?

Nah, they have a great plan.

A quote from the CEO: "In order to drive growth, we are undertaking a number of initiatives, including a detailed review of our Company-wide cost structure with the goal of driving significant cash cost savings in 2014 and 2015"

Cutting costs, that always works

 

[asianway]

Nah, they have a great plan.

A quote from the CEO: "In order to drive growth, we are undertaking a number of initiatives, including a detailed review of our Company-wide cost structure with the goal of driving significant cash cost savings in 2014 and 2015"

Cutting costs, that always works

#thebrain learned from the best

 

[the.dreamfinder]

It would be great if Augie Busch bought back BG.

 

[flynnibus]

currently I'm having to debate doing
discovery cove+aquatica+sw
or
just universal

for my upcoming orlando stopover for 2-3 days... haven't been to SW since the 80s.

 

[Mike S]

currently I'm having to debate doing
discovery cove+aquatica+sw
or
just universal

for my upcoming orlando stopover for 2-3 days... haven't been to SW since the 80s.

Universal. No contest.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

...I may like (ok, love) Frozen but I'm thinking half of the popularity is due to it being "new". If a new Muppets fireworks and décor was announced, it would probably have a similar drive.

Ditto Star Wars.

I think the key is that it's NEW and people are desperate to experience something new at WDW.

It's a shame but no one will learn. A corrupt management team will lie cheat and distort the truth as long as they can to save their hide.

But there were no red flags here when they chose their CFO, right?

#thebrain

Could you please copy/paste or link the rest of us clueless folks to what you're talking about?

 

[PeterAlt]

...I may like (ok, love) Frozen but I'm thinking half of the popularity is due to it being "new". If a new Muppets fireworks and décor was announced, it would probably have a similar drive.

Ditto Star Wars.

I think the key is that it's NEW and people are desperate to experience something new at WDW.



Could you please copy/paste or link the rest of us clueless folks to what you're talking about?

Hey, I thought you were going were me on my CA trip! This is what you said a few months ago! Lol... Better pack your bags because I'm leave on Aug. 25-31!

 

[DougK]

I dropped Tables in Wonderland.

I did too because 20% off of insanely high prices still results in insanely high prices. We rent a car and eat mostly offsite. The food cost savings MORE than pays for the rental car and also having a car makes it easier to get to Universal and other non-Disney attractions if we want to go somewhere other than Disney.

 

[DougK]

One of the most infuriating trends in recent years at WDW is their laser-like focus on eliminating absolutely anything that might be considered a savings. We've seen it happen with multiday tickets, annual passes, the 'no expiration' option, the Disney Dining Plan, Tables in Wonderland, etc.

"Gee, the customer might actually save a little bit of money. We need to get rid of that!"

How about focusing on giving customers reasons to spend more instead of nickel-and-diming them?

I like this 1000 times!

 

[PhotoDave219]

but why should it irritate people...Frozen is popular right now

Frozen is popular with people, yes. Frozen is here to stay for the forseeable future.

 

[CDavid]

Point 1: It's not a single piece of concept art. There are full scale models, several pieces of concept art, and details about Avatar Land. It will deliver just like Cars Land delivered and you know damn well that it will.

Point 2: As you yourself said Horizons already existed before Eisner entered the picture. He and his team were the ones that ruined Epcot because it wasn't "hip" enough and had Horizons and World of Motion replaced with bare bone thrill rides, set up that ugly fiesta crap in the plaza, ruined Universe of Energy with a stupid ellen degeneris tie-in, etc.

Point 3: Your playing games. Eisner's boys are the ones that ruined Imagination in the first place in 1999 and even if he didn't like the end result the second version (JIYI W/ Figment) was just as awful. Arguably more so since it turned figment into an obnoxious character.

Point 4: Eisner and his team are the ones that neutered Baxter in the first place and had him just sitting in a corner not doing anything for a DECADE. At least Iger had the decency to let him supervise the Disneyland portfolio for his last few years and gave him authority to green light pet projects like Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough, reopening Captain EO, etc.

You're still cherry-picking to support an erroneous conclusion.

How does anyone know - at this point in time - how Avatar Land will deliver? We can't see the future. The reception to Pandora in Animal Kingdom has been lukewarm enough (quite in contrast to Carsland) and certainly plenty of time remains to cut the budget and produce an underwhelming experience (or one which lacks substance - sound familiar?). It should turn out well, but we've seen all manner of nice looking concept art and models for various projects before. It proves nothing.

If Frozen gets shoehorned into Norway where it simply doesn't belong, is that going to be Eisner's fault as well? Or how about the most recent Spaceship Earth refurbishment which butchered the descent, all so we can watch a flash video on a screen - whose tenure did that fall under, again? If "Eisner's Boys" ruined Epcot, as you contend, what has Iger done to fix it? Or, rather, does the dumbing-down of a once special park continue?

Again, however, you can name specific examples all day long, and completely miss the bigger picture.

 

[PhotoDave219]

During a visit to Victoria Falls (the bar at the Animal Kingdom Lodge) in April, the server brought out a free bowl of nuts for me and my DW.

I assume it was 'fresh', not recycled from another table.

If it was recycled, then any health problem lies with Disney's practices.

During a July visit, we did not receive any complementary nuts at the Territory Lounge (the bar at the Wilderness Lodge).

At the prices they charge for drinks, let's hope Disney hasn't stooped to counting peanuts.

My experience at Disney resorts were that those free bowls of nuts were poured on a "per person" basis.