The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

Rodan75

Rodan75

Well-Known Member
WDW1974 said:
Thought about starting another thread on this, but then realized why ... it works just fine here, so here we are just four weeks from the start of FY '15 for TWDC and I'm wondering where all the NGE fanbois are?

Remember when MAGIC Bands were going to be the new Potter Swatter? (OK, the bands and the kiddie coaster at MK) Remember how NGE was going to revolutionize the theme park business, not to mention drive people to plan MAGICal WDW vacations? Remember how this tech was going to make trips better for all guests AND -- most importantly -- raise revenue by a minimum of 11% annually?

Is it too late to say ''I won't say I told you so, but I did see this coming?''

Is there anyone here who wants to claim I was wrong? Or that I still am? Anyone want to claim that Disney's business model is smarter than Comcast's? Anyone want to, at the very least, make an excuse that we really need ti wait 3-5 years more to judge this disaster?

And, please, feel free to ignore the price increases (in tix, food, merchandise etc.), the entertainment cuts, the limited hours of some attractions and dining locations, the need to DVC any and every lodging on property (wait until Cindy's Castle becomes the ultimate villa!), the addition of upcharge events (some within existing events) almost weekly and, coming soon, 'special people' lounges and Club 33 in WDW (I'd name it Club 69 myself, but I am a naughty Spirit) when defending it.

Seriously ... anyone want to defend it?
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While I'm not defending TWDC against any of your concerns, I can say that I've never repeatedly had such demoralizing service as I have received recently from Comcast, all while trying to throw money at them to activate service. Comcast is letting their core business suffer so they can build shiny new attractions at Uni and play as a movie studio.

So while the leadership at Universal's parks is doing well, the overall at Comcast is a distracted mess. And this will likely get worse with TWC integration before it gets any better. Let's not compare TWDC to Comcast unless you are comparing the companies in their entirety. Lionizing Comcast because they built a nice land at a theme park is foolish when their fundamentals look far more scary than WDW's hotel occupancy. Apples to apples. Not the oranges you like vs the apples you don't.
 
Nland316

Nland316

Well-Known Member
@WDW1974 What extra two units are being built for Disneyland's Paint the Night clone? I also heard that they're converting a few old Jubilation floats into nighttime parade floats. I do know that there have been some pieces of that parade spotted at DL.
 
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GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Rodan75 said:
While I'm not defending TWDC against any of your concerns, I can say that I've never repeatedly had such demoralizing service as I have received recently from Comcast, all while trying to throw money at them to activate service. Comcast is letting their core business suffer so they can build shiny new attractions at Uni and play as a movie studio.

So while the leadership at Universal's parks is doing well, the overall at Comcast is a distracted mess. And this will likely get worse with TWC integration before it gets any better. Let's not compare TWDC to Comcast unless you are comparing the companies in their entirety. Lionizing Comcast because they built a nice land at a theme park is foolish when their fundamentals look far more scary than WDW's hotel occupancy. Apples to apples. Not the oranges you like vs the apples you don't.
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This is a valid point. I think most people here are just focused on the theme park divisions (primarily in Orlando).
 
BrianLo

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
WDW1974 said:
So ... the two-month true Top One Percent Summer Holiday is drawing to a close? Hope it's been great (don't know how it couldn't be!)
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Today brings it to a close, headed home tomorrow. A sad day indeed, but a new life chapter of sorts. Absolutely amazing experiences all around (did I tell you all how I ran into the Doctor and Clara [Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman] in front of the Rio Christ statue? I even have selfies with them...)

And less than 10% of the time was spent in theme parks, who knew.

Now it's going to be far more than a year before I can visit another park again. At least I realized I could technically pop down from Vancouver to DLR Nov 2015 to catch all the holiday and 60th offerings I've never seen... Yes, I literally have a spread sheet of my life for the next 1.5 years. A good bit of travelling for school, but restricted to Canada. :(

I need some good ol' rumours to cheer me up.
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
It's a mess on Main Street right now. I've never seen this in my life.
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TalkingHead

TalkingHead

Well-Known Member
I know Gringotts reviews were the subject a few pages ago. I rode today going through the stand-by line and must say it's quickly moving up my list of favorite attractions. The preshow stuff is the best in Orlando, and the ride has more physical sets than I realized on my first go rounds. More simulation too. I don't think enough credit's been given to the ride vehicles which simulate a rumbling feel at the beginning (and the Hogwarts Express which simulates the motion of a train extremely well).

But stuff leading up to the Gringotts ride makes the whole experience very close to equaling the experience at FJ.

Food-wise, Toad in the Hole was really good at Leaky. Under $9 with an AP discount. And the ice cream flavors continued to impress me. The caramel blondie and apple crumble are delicious.

It's incredible how much time and money you can spend in the Potter 2.0 areas.
 
TinkerBelle8878

TinkerBelle8878

Well-Known Member
WDW1974 said:
This argument comes up all the time and I repeat that when WDW was a vastly better run, better quality product in the 70s, 80s and 90s, it was vastly more affordable to vastly more people. ... I know @ParentsOf4 has done numerous posts on this (you don't need a fresh one, feel free to repost an old one that I am sure you have archived close by!)

WDW was almost cheap before Eisner and Wells took over and was fairly priced for almost all of the former's tenure. I would argue the total gouging of guests started in MDE's final few years and has been the rule of the day for Iger's entire tenure.
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I'd even venture to say that pricing most people out starting with Magic My Way ticketing instead of the old 5 day park hopping and more with never expiring dates. Those tickets, they'd be bought and kept without additional cost and could be used on a concluding trip in the future. There was value in it, no matter how much the tickets were at that point. The stripping of them and then making everything a la carte is when the blatant upcharging started in my eyes.
 
ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
WDW1974 said:
Remember when MAGIC Bands were going to be the new Potter Swatter? (OK, the bands and the kiddie coaster at MK) Remember how NGE was going to revolutionize the theme park business, not to mention drive people to plan MAGICal WDW vacations? Remember how this tech was going to make trips better for all guests AND -- most importantly -- raise revenue by a minimum of 11% annually?

Is it too late to say ''I won't say I told you so, but I did see this coming?''

Is there anyone here who wants to claim I was wrong? Or that I still am? Anyone want to claim that Disney's business model is smarter than Comcast's? Anyone want to, at the very least, make an excuse that we really need ti wait 3-5 years more to judge this disaster?
Click to expand...
After seven straight quarters of dodging Wall Street's MyMagic+ questions with meaningless replies, Iger finally raised expectations for the next earnings call. When asked, "Is there a longer-term benefit in terms of a revenue component?", Iger responded with:

There is, and we have said that [MyMagic+] is going to contribute to our growth in the next quarter.​

Considering that domestic P&R revenue was up an average of 10.7% for the prior 3 years, MyMagic+ is pretty much going to have to walk on water in order to justify its tremendous cost.
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
Animaniac93-98 said:
That and it's the Saturday night of a long weekend.

At least that's what I'm telling myself in the hopes that it will not be like that next week when I'm there.
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bhg469 said:
My possible March visit is most likely having me avoid that place. DTD was a mess and it's going to be worse before it gets better.
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Might as well not come back until 2017. Let them finish the construction and not deal with the related BS
 
misterID

misterID

Well-Known Member
TalkingHead said:
I know Gringotts reviews were the subject a few pages ago. I rode today going through the stand-by line and must say it's quickly moving up my list of favorite attractions. The preshow stuff is the best in Orlando, and the ride has more physical sets than I realized on my first go rounds. More simulation too. I don't think enough credit's been given to the ride vehicles which simulate a rumbling feel at the beginning (and the Hogwarts Express which simulates the motion of a train extremely well).

But stuff leading up to the Gringotts ride makes the whole experience very close to equaling the experience at FJ.

Food-wise, Toad in the Hole was really good at Leaky. Under $9 with an AP discount. And the ice cream flavors continued to impress me. The caramel blondie and apple crumble are delicious.

It's incredible how much time and money you can spend in the Potter 2.0 areas.
Click to expand...

Agreed. You know, when UNI debuted FJ they needed that game changer attraction. I think UNI needed to show that they could do more with DA than just another state of the art attraction. The land itself was an attempt to establish it on another level by creating a real immersive atmosphere with rich detail that took full advantage of original and land specific merch by making it a part of the experience, not in an overtly cash grab way (it's a smart cash grab!), but completely organic to the land. It was to show they could hang with Disney outside of great attractions, but create heart within the art. I tried to compare it to another type of feeling at another theme park... and I can't find one.

I think the mistake they made was advertising it with the "lightning strikes twice" stuff as I think they took the focus away from the land and started comparing it to the attraction. DA is so much more than Gringotts.
 
Cody5242

Cody5242

Well-Known Member
I was able to get out of MK after fireworks in about 5 min tonight. No where near as bad as it normally is. Quiet crowds at both Disney and Universal for Labor Day Weekend
 

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