The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[Bolna]

This is the same thing people said about Pixar and Marvel. With Pixar it was "IT'S GONNA BE ALL SEQUELS NOW THAT DISNEY TOOK OVER! PEOPLE ARE GONNA GET BORED!" and in reality we got 3 brand new films (Rat, Wall-E, and Up!) before Toy Story 3 followed by more original IPs afterwards (Brave and the new films) . With Marvel it was "YEA BUT THE RIGHTS TO ALL THE GOOD CHARACTERS ARE STUCK AT OTHER STUDIOS! OUTSIDE OF IRON MAN DISNEY CAN ONLY USE OBSCURE CHARACTERS. THEY GOT RIPPED OFF!!!111" meanwhile in reality land Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy kicked a$$ at the box office.

I am surprised how well Guardians of the Galaxy is doing, even I went with a group of friends who I never expected to be interested in a super hero film and we all really enjoyed it. But, to me this just shows that it does not matter which kind of franchise/IP you buy, it comes down to the merits of the film. So, why buy Marvel for the IP in the first place?

 

[TubaGeek]

To answer your question, yes, but where Disney loses money is if someone has a 3 day pass for example. If they are being let in for free, they aren't scanning the ticket, so they aren't using a day off of the ticket.

Heck, they may have MADE money in that case. The cost to upgrade from 3 days to four isn't much, but getting people to buy more meals and merch on property is fantastic for them. I wonder if anyone even extended their stay at a Disney resort so they could utilize their "stolen" day.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Ask Robert Iger that. He has so little faith in Disney product overall that he bought non-studio-generated IPs in the belief that THAT was the way to keep the company strong.

One of the items discussed by CFO Jay Rasulo at last May's MoffettNathanson Media & Communications Summit was Iger's capital deployment strategy:

“Well, I think if you look at how we've deployed capital over the last decade, certainly since Bob Iger became CEO of the company, there is an incredible consistency in the decisions that we've made consistent with his strategy. And I don’t want to spend time on his strategy, but clear pillars of his strategy are creative content, international expansion, embracing technology to improve our distribution.”​

What does each of these mean?

• “creative content” - Acquisitions such as Pixar, Marvel, and Lucas Arts. For Parks & Resorts (P&R), this means expanding their presence at the theme parks.
• “international expansion” – Higher international sales and market penetration. For P&R, this means Shanghai Disneyland.
• “embracing technology to improve our distribution” – For example, the growth of video on demand and the acquisition of Maker Studios. For P&R, MyMagic+ can be lumped into this.

Of course, conveniently missing from this list is the $17 billion spent on stock buyback over the last 4 years.

To your point, this strategy suggests that Iger does not see much opportunity to grow the traditional Disney brand domestically.

 

[Next Big Thing]

Heck, they may have MADE money in that case. The cost to upgrade from 3 days to four isn't much, but getting people to buy more meals and merch on property is fantastic for them. I wonder if anyone even extended their stay at a Disney resort so they could utilize their "stolen" day.

This isn't only about just resort stays. I wouldn't expect anyone to extend their stay. Plenty of Florida residents buy 3 or 4 day passes and go at different times of the year a day at a time. So this would give them an extra day on top of that. And yes, Disney needed to let guests in as they would've lost a ton of money in food and bev. I'm simply saying this system was supposed to make the guest experience better and things like this go horribly against that.

 

[TubaGeek]

This isn't only about just resort stays. I wouldn't expect anyone to extend their stay. Plenty of Florida residents buy 3 or 4 day passes and go at different times of the year a day at a time. So this would give them an extra day on top of that. And yes, Disney needed to let guests in as they would've lost a ton of money in food and bev. I'm simply saying this system was supposed to make the guest experience better and things like this go horribly against that.

Oh, I totally agree with you, I'm just noting how much they make letting folks in compared to how much they make once they're through the gates.

 

[bhg469]

We'll see about Star Wars. I think the reunion film that's coming up will be very popular (if it doesn't stink that is), but after that...?

From what I have heard, and this is directly from people that were working on set, JJ will not let this fail. He is treating this like everyone hoped 1,2 and 3 did. Without giving spoilers away, I heard most of the plot for episode 7 and it is a fantastic storyline.

He is a star wars fan, and I think he would rather not work on the film than let it become garbage.

Spoiler contains cast news no real plot points.

Spoiler

The only real worry will be 2 of the origional cast because they are both very difficult on set. One Disappears often and the other was described as working with a crazy homeless person. So much so that their appearance in this film was cut down a lot to see if they can get better for the next film

 

[misterID]

From what I have heard, and this is directly from people that were working on set, JJ will not let this fail. He is treating this like everyone hoped 1,2 and 3 did. Without giving spoilers away, I heard most of the plot for episode 7 and it is a fantastic storyline.

He is a star wars fan, and I think he would rather not work on the film than let it become garbage.

Spoiler contains cast news no real plot points.

Spoiler

The only real worry will be 2 of the origional cast because they are both very difficult on set. One Disappears often and the other was described as working with a crazy homeless person. So much so that their appearance in this film was cut down a lot to see if they can get better for the next film

So... Just like the old days.

 

[SJN1279]

So... Harrison is being a jerk and Carrie is irrationally crazy. Just like the old days.

I thought he meant Hamill and Carrie......I hate blind items.

 

[SJN1279]

I will never ride Mission:SPACE again. Ugh...

Mission Space actually created a profile so you can experience the attraction and not become ill, unlike a certain wizard. I always wished Universal would be able to create a less intense version, like on the sum of all thrills.

 

[bhg469]

I thought he meant......I hate blind items.

It was in spoiler tags for a reason. Please follow the same respect for dave. He will gut me.

 

[bhg469]

So.... Just like the old days.

Please edit that because I don't want anyone who doesn't want to know finding out.

Spoiler

and no ford is not the problem

 

[SJN1279]

It was in spoiler tags for a reason. Please follow the same respect for dave. He will gut me.

Sorry!

 

[Magenta Panther]

I am surprised how well Guardians of the Galaxy is doing, even I went with a group of friends who I never expected to be interested in a super hero film and we all really enjoyed it. But, to me this just shows that it does not matter which kind of franchise/IP you buy, it comes down to the merits of the film. So, why buy Marvel for the IP in the first place?

Bingo.

 

[Stevek]

So... Harrison is being a jerk and Carrie is irrationally crazy. Just like the old days.

I was just reading the section in the Making of Empire Strikes Back that goes in depth on the tension between them. Old habits die hard.

 

[71jason]

From what I have heard, and this is directly from people that were working on set, JJ will not let this fail. He is treating this like everyone hoped 1,2 and 3 did. Without giving spoilers away, I heard most of the plot for episode 7 and it is a fantastic storyline.

From like the Faraci leaks, or do you have an inside connection?

(When it comes to JJ Abrams movies, I'm the opposite of Dave--I need spoilers to convince me it won't be another Star Trek: Into Darkness.)

 

[Stevek]

She's a real life friend of mine… there is no need to bring either of them up on this board or into this conversation.

My comment was meant to be very tongue in cheek as WDW1974 has mentioned his fondness of her many times.

But, this does bring up a bigger question. Who is and isn't off limits here? Brigante, Mongello, Mr 365 days at WDW, the couple that shall now remain nameless...they are kinda all in the same boat when we talk about WDW lifestylers. All have websites, podcasts and are visible Disney Parks™ "personalities" at the majority of the WDW events i.e. blog meet ups, hard ticket events, etc. I personally have no problem with any of them, other than the Rickster, but the reality is that if they are putting themselves out there, they will lumped into this group and open themselves up for discussion...good or bad. Again, no issues with them but if we are going to try and shut down any mention of them, then everyone should be off limits.

 

[Stevek]

Mission Space actually created a profile so you can experience the attraction and not become ill, unlike a certain wizard. I always wished Universal would be able to create a less intense version, like on the sum of all thrills.

I was fine with the tame version of MS but my wife still got a bit sick. I likely won't be able to experience the Potter ride when it comes to Uni Hollywood though which kinda bums me out. But I don't expect Uni to create a tame version anytime soon.

 

[PhotoDave219]

My comment was meant to be very tongue in cheek as WDW1974 has mentioned his fondness of her many times.

But, this does bring up a bigger question. Who is and isn't off limits here? Brigante, Mongello, Mr 365 days at WDW, the couple that shall now remain nameless...they are kinda all in the same boat when we talk about WDW lifestylers. All have websites, podcasts and are visible Disney Parks™ "personalities" at the majority of the WDW events i.e. blog meet ups, hard ticket events, etc. I personally have no problem with any of them, other than the Rickster, but the reality is that if they are putting themselves out there, they will lumped into this group and open themselves up for discussion...good or bad. Again, no issues with them but if we are going to try and shut down any mention of them, then everyone should be off limits.

Okay, well let me put it this way. If you drag my friend into this without good reason, I'm going to say something about it. And it will not be polite nor pleasant.

I believe @wdwmagic has asked us before not to drag people from twitter into our conversations.

 

[Stevek]

Okay, well let me put it this way. If you drag my friend into this without good reason, I'm going to say something about it. And it will not be polite nor pleasant.

I believe @wdwmagic has asked us before not to drag people from twitter into our conversations.

Which is totally fair. I would expect anyone here to defend their friends. The reality is that we shouldn't be dragging any of these folks into our discussion as they are all on Twitter, FB, Instagram, etc.

 

[TubaGeek]

I was fine with the tame version of MS but my wife still got a bit sick. I likely won't be able to experience the Potter ride when it comes to Uni Hollywood though which kinda bums me out. But I don't expect Uni to create a tame version anytime soon.

I know Antarctica: EOTP was underwhelming for most people, but I'm shocked that the whole "Mild/Wild" switch didn't make a bigger splash. That is an innovation that I think deserves a major role in the future of theme park attractions.