The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

TalkingHead

TalkingHead

Well-Known Member
misterID said:
It was to show they could hang with Disney outside of great attractions, but create heart within the art.
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Truly. Grab some ice cream and sit on the steps next to Gringotts. You'll feel like some thought was put into the design of this place, or something.

Incidentally, noticed some lighting upgrades in MIB before the "vehicle scanner" section. Nice to see an older attraction get some plussing.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

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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Let's not pretend for a second that you were the lone dissenting voice on this. I would say the masses on this site and in the fan community saw a flaw with this. Most people saw it as a bad idea build on deceiving guests. Others saw it as the ultimate in arrogance and ignorance.

What's interesting is that this was the first (and arguably only) attempt at a long term investment in Walt Disney World since the dream team of Iger and Rasulo started making financial decisions. It has largely failed to accomplish it's financial goals so the resolution is to make up for it with anything that makes the balance sheet look good in the short term.
 
K

Kungaloosh1937

Active Member
Gringott's IS an amazing attraction. I've been on a lot. It's got a great story that is told from beginning to end... the queue is amazing, it has a ToT-esque pre-show, and then a loading area so massive and detailed and never seen to this scale in the states.

Here's the thing. People are discounting it because the technologies it uses are SO well integrated together. When it runs well, and that is more times than not now, it is SO seamless that people don't realize just how awesome it is. Frankly. Let's take Tower, which is arguable one of the best Disney attractions ever or Indy... they are not nearly as complicated. Tower has a standard elevator, an autonomous vehicle that can move horizontally (at least in our version) and a drop shaft. Gringotts has a powered coaster, a powered car that can spin, a tilt track, multiple break-away track sections with up/down motion, a kuka arm powered screen door, and not to mention the largest use of combined 4K 3D projectors ever.

But people don't THINK about what's involved in any of this. They ride and think they're on another Spider-man or motion simulator and disregard the fact that this coaster track is doing things that have never EVER been done before. Riding a Kuka arm really was revolutionary but it lends itself better to a ride system. This is shoving three ride systems down the throat of another ride system.

Outside of the downtimes (which are becoming fewer) and certainly the capacity is now up to snuff... people are loving this ride. People wanna be thrown around and around on a robotic arm and certainly FJ is amazing... but Gringott's as an attraction never should have been that. They achieved something to re-create what you saw in the movies to an exceptional level.
 
I

Ignohippo

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?
Click to expand...



Do you really think you were the only one who could see that this was a boondoggle from the very beginning? I think 98% of this board thought the same exact thing.

Not quite sure why you're doing the "I told you so" bit.
 
Cosmic Commando

Cosmic Commando

Well-Known Member
RSoxNo1 said:
Let's not pretend for a second that you were the lone dissenting voice on this. I would say the masses on this site and in the fan community saw a flaw with this. Most people saw it as a bad idea build on deceiving guests. Others saw it as the ultimate in arrogance and ignorance.

What's interesting is that this was the first (and arguably only) attempt at a long term investment in Walt Disney World since the dream team of Iger and Rasulo started making financial decisions. It has largely failed to accomplish it's financial goals so the resolution is to make up for it with anything that makes the balance sheet look good in the short term.
Click to expand...
Ignohippo said:
Do you really think you were the only one who could see that this was a boondoggle from the very beginning? I think 98% of this board thought the same exact thing.

Not quite sure why you're doing the "I told you so" bit.
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I think almost everyone on the boards thought this was a bad idea! Most of the "positive" comments are normally something like, "Well, it is coming, so maybe this is how it might not be completely terrible."

Ask anybody on the boards if WDW would be better off with $2B worth of Magic Bands or with ten $200M e-tickets... I'd be surprised if anyone but jt picked the bracelets.
 
FrankLapidus

FrankLapidus

Well-Known Member
SJN1279 said:
That is what certain members of this board had said. However, I believe it is a very balanced land and I would argue that Seven Dwarves is an E-Ticket.
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Out of interest,in what way is it an E-Ticket in comparison to WDW's other E-Tickets? How does it hold up if its compared to, say, Splash Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain?

I'll get to experience it for the first time myself in three weeks but, from what I've seen and heard, I'm not expecting an E-Ticket.
 
ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
RSoxNo1 said:
Let's not pretend for a second that you were the lone dissenting voice on this. I would say the masses on this site and in the fan community saw a flaw with this. Most people saw it as a bad idea build on deceiving guests. Others saw it as the ultimate in arrogance and ignorance.
What's interesting is that this was the first (and arguably only) attempt at a long term investment in Walt Disney World since the dream team of Iger and Rasulo started making financial decisions. It has largely failed to accomplish it's financial goals so the resolution is to make up for it with anything that makes the balance sheet look good in the short term.
Click to expand...
Ignohippo said:
Do you really think you were the only one who could see that this was a boondoggle from the very beginning? I think 98% of this board thought the same exact thing.

Not quite sure why you're doing the "I told you so" bit.
Click to expand...
Yes, there were many MyMagic+ naysayers from the beginning. However, it also had its supporters. I don't interpret the @WDW1974 "I told you so" post as an attempt to claim exclusive rights as MyMagic+'s sole detractor. Instead, I find his post to be a taunt aimed at those who defended it.

Since it's an interesting topic, I accept the challenge of defending MyMagic+ financially. (Please, don't drag me into yet another discussion of its technical merits. :D)

It's premature to declare MyMagic+ a financial failure. I believe we need to watch the next 2 to 3 quarters to see how it plays out.

My interpretation of data thus far is that MyMagic+ did result in a significant bump in hotel occupancy when it was an onsite-only perk. See my post here.

Since then, Disney has distributed MyMagic+ to offsite guests. As a result, the WDW hotel occupancy rate returned to normal levels last quarter (Q3). Some numbers:

Disney 2013Q2 domestic occupancy: 80%
Disney 2014Q2 domestic occupancy: 86%

Disney 2013Q3 domestic occupancy: 79%
Disney 2014Q3 domestic occupancy: 82%

(Note that these fiscal quarters correspond to the first half of the year, January to the end of June.)

For comparison, I quote from an August 3, 2014 article in the Orlando Sentinel:

"So far this year, occupancy rates have averaged almost 77 percent, up 4 percentage points from the first half of 2013, according to Visit Orlando. The agency said recent data also suggests that advance bookings for the back half of the year are running almost 5 percent ahead of this time last year."​

(Note that Visit Orlando's numbers exclude WDW.)

WDW's huge Q2 bump of 6% is without precedent in the history of that resort.

WDW's smaller Q3 bump of 3% is actually below the Orlando area increase.

In Q2, WDW "guests" caught wind of some kind of new onsite-only benefit. Even if they didn't fully understand it, they wanted it. In Q3, this once exclusive onsite perk was unveiled to the general public, resulting in declining quarter-to-quarter occupancy.

Even more idiotic, Disney decided to sell MagicBands to offsite guests for a pittance. What once might have been viewed as an exclusive (OK, snooty) mark of distinction for onsite guests quickly devolved into cheap rubber jewelry.

Corporate Disney has mishandled MyMagic+ badly but, with the right strategy, MyMagic+ could have been a financial success.
 
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Smiddimizer

Smiddimizer

Well-Known Member
To those who haven't been on it yet, I'm reasonably sure Gringotts will leave you disappointed. It is indeed too reliant on projection technology, which won't be a problem if you've never been on Spider Man or Transformers. Those of you who have, well...it's quite familiar, both in terms of story and execution. On top of that, there are I think three 4K projection theatre scenes that frankly felt lazy....I'm talking sitting in front of an omnimax with a plainly visible ceiling while a film plays with simulated movement; made me think of Despicable Me or dare I say,l it, Antarctica.

The portions between those scenes are just fantastic however, with enormous physical sets and an innovative ride system capable of some really surprising degrees of movement. It's a tame ride, and that's just fine-welcome, really, at Universal.

Overall, you may find gringotts underwhelming if you're expecting the "next big thing" it's been rumored to be. It remains a very good ride with an awesome queue and some clever surprises. Ride it again, the experience changes significantly depending on where you sit. The first and last scenes are the best.
 
SJN1279

SJN1279

Well-Known Member
danlb_2000 said:
Yes, staying up till midnight at the 60 day mark in hopes of getting those hard to get Fastpasses is very relaxing. ;)
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I went in June and was able to book fastpasses for Splash, Space, and Mermaid the day I arrived. I was also easily able to change fastpass times using my phone when I saw I wasn't going to make my fastpass window.

It is very relaxing not having to be there at park opening to ride my favorite attractions with minimal wait. I also don't miss having to take my parties park tickets and running across the park to obtain a fastpass.
 

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