The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[Cesar R M]

From the twitterverse:

hang on, didn't they sell record number of comics of the character?

It almost feels like some management guys in Disney are so disconnected from their clientele. That they might be aliens!!! .

 

[Cesar R M]

I seem to recall the legendary Tony Baxter being thrilled with Gringotts. Even if it's within the top 5 rides ever, that's still better than anything WDW has done in years. Period. "It's not quite as good as Forbidden Journey" is pretty much one of the best things you can say about any attraction.

Why am I even responding to you?

you're a

 

[Mike S]

hang on, didn't they sell record number of comics of the character?

It almost feels like some management guys in Disney are so disconnected from their clientele. That they might be aliens!!! .

 

[Captain Chaos]

Umm......no.

Oh, you know that isn't the point.

The point is the insidious creeping of characters into Epcot.
Nemo...Donald...neither were good ideas.

Eventually they'll make good on that threat to put Monsters into Universe of Energy. Mater into Test Track.

Awful...just awful...

And forget Soarin Over the World, unless you are riding in DISNEY PLANES, FROM THE CREATORS OF PIXAR'S CARS!!!!

 

[Hula Popper]

Ok, this is not relevant to the talk of the day, but I very much wanted to share this entertaining find, and figured this was a good thread to drop this in.

I just read this article on CNN about the things you should splurge for at Disney, including the Four Seasons (only $545 a night!), a massage at the Grand Floridian with valet parking, and of course the VIP tours to avoid waiting in lines with the riff-raff.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/12/travel/luxury-walt-disney-world/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed: rss/edition_travel (RSS: Travel)

Then I noticed the note at the bottom about the author - Sally Kohn. She refers to herself as an "activist." So I clicked over to her page. She calls herself one of the "leading progressive voices in America."

Then, I saw the donate tab . . .
http://sallykohn.com/donate/

You would think that being on television and in the media would automatically guarantee financial success. Turns out, not so much — especially when you spent the first 16 years of your career as a community organizer and are just beginning a second career in the media.

There’s a reason I’m the only community organizer from our field to become a full-time pundit. Even if you’re lucky enough to get paid for this work like I am, the small stipend for each appearance simply isn’t enough to pay the bills. And when I go toe-to-toe with leading voices on right wing radio or write essays on progressive issues places like Fox News? The fact is I’m not paid for all of that work.

Really?

 

[tirian]

Frozen Summer Fun seemed to be as big of a draw as Diagon Alley this summer by most accounts for less than half the price.

Also Gringotts wasn't the Universal homerun many expected. This new Frozen ride may surprise you.

Do you plan these delusions or make them up as you go?

WDW needs a Frozen attraction, but an overlay on an existing water ride in a pavilion that represents a real-life culture of actual human beings is not the right place to add an Ice Queen and dancing snowman.

And one correction about Gringott's: the merch sales weren't as good as Uni expected, but the attendance and attraction were very successful. Maybe Uni's merch sales would improve if their HP crap weren't insanely overpriced.

 

[tirian]

1) I would be surprised if Frozen Summer Fun was 1/100th of the cost of Diagon Alley.

2) All Frozen at DHS did was draw guests from other WDW parks - it was so quickly thrown together and generally folks plan WDW vacations months in advance.

Exactly. @SJN1279 The quickly added Frozen events at DHS were decent for the time and money involved, but they merely attracted people that were already on Disney vacations; they were hardly attendance drivers.

 

[misterID]

Do you plan these delusions or make them up as you go?

WDW needs a Frozen attraction, but an overlay on an existing water ride in a pavilion that represents a real-life culture of actual human beings is not the right place to add an Ice Queen and dancing snowman.

And one correction about Gringott's: the merch sales weren't as good as Uni expected, but the attendance and attraction were very successful. Maybe Uni's merch sales would improve if their HP crap weren't insanely overpriced.

And those estimates were pretty lofty at that, from what I've heard. I think some people are confusing failure with disappointment. The disappointment with Diagon Alley was really friggin successful. And yeah, I'm pretty shocked at UNI's prices. There's no defending that.

And of course Frozen will be a big hit. First, it's new. Second, it's going to bring in load of people, mostly the heavily made up, princess dress wearing kind that stands about four feet tall, who typically never get past Turtle Talk, and are a little awkward being placed amongst all the booze and wobbly, red faced, stupid-happy, guests who love to shout obscenities every now and again, in between the sloppy make out sessions.

 

[StageFrenzy]

One thing I love doing now that DA is open is laughing at all the people waiting outside of Olivanders in Hogsmeade.

 

[Cesar R M]

Exactly. @SJN1279 The quickly added Frozen events at DHS were decent for the time and money involved, but they merely attracted people that were already on Disney vacations; they were hardly attendance drivers.

I think it was still useful on lowering the load on Magic Kingdom and move it into one of the weakest parks (DHS)

 

[PhotoDave219]

The problem with the internet is that it has given people like that a voice

Here let me finish that quote ....

"And they have chosen to use that voice to be an (bad language)"

 

[PhotoDave219]

Exactly. @SJN1279 The quickly added Frozen events at DHS were decent for the time and money involved, but they merely attracted people that were already on Disney vacations; they were hardly attendance drivers.

It doesn't matter if they attracted more guests.

The point is it attracted more revenue.

I know I keep repeating myself but it's going to be a drum beat until it starts to sink in. The only thing that matters to Glendale is revenue.

 

[PhotoDave219]

From the twitterverse:

Yes and he's right. Outside of the hard-core Disney or shall I say Epcot fanboys, Nobody cares about figment outside of that group.

(And for those who are going to flame me, be prepared to back up your assertions. Prove that this means I could've wrong.)

Your average park guest from bum crap America does not know who he is, does not care who it is, and is not interested in learning who is.

I'm a fan myself. But the character recognition there is insanely low.

 

[DisUniversal]

I think it was still useful on lowering the load on Magic Kingdom and move it into one of the weakest parks (DHS)

I guess that's one thing that Frozen Summer Fun and Diagon Alley have in common....they both lowered crowds at the Magic Kingdom. The difference is, people actually planned vacations to see Diagon Alley, not just altered their schedules for an already planned vacation.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Yes and he's right. Outside of the hard-core Disney or shall I say Epcot fanboys, Nobody cares about figment outside of that group.

(And for those who are going to flame me, be prepared to back up your assertions. Prove that this means I could've wrong.)

Your average park guest from bum crap America does not know who he is, does not care who it is, and is not interested in learning who is.

I'm a fan myself. But the character recognition there is insanely low.

The real pressure to put Figment back into the ride came from the hit to merchandise sales.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I guess that's one thing that Frozen Summer Fun and Diagon Alley have in common....they both lowered crowds at the Magic Kingdom. The difference is, people actually planned vacations to see Diagon Alley, not just altered their schedules for an already planned vacation.

No I would say the Magic Kingdom had a normal summer crowd. Attendance was down at Epcot and animal kingdom… Which made Epcot very enjoyable. Seriously, the park is great when nobody's in it.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

Speaking of EPCOT, random observation: saw five bachelorette parties today (best t-shirt: "Look like a beauty, drink like a beast"). Ton of small groups of CMs clearly there to day-drink, as well. Why didn't TDO ever try opening up PI during the day on weekends? Could've made a killing.

Because Epcot. Free admission at PI, or nail 'em for $90 A day plus each bite of food, each drink, each snack, each souvenir, from each country and whatever that mess up front with the tombstones is.
Clearly the guy who thought up the different booze drinks per country got a promotion and a nice shiny set of gold painted Mickey ears.

1) I would be surprised if Frozen Summer Fun was 1/100th of the cost of Diagon Alley.

2) All Frozen at DHS did was draw guests from other WDW parks - it was so quickly thrown together and generally folks plan WDW vacations months in advance.

Yeah well... Because they have it set up so you have to plan months ahead, if you plan on eating at any sit down restaurant, or want FPs for the e tickets without using standby for everything. They've taken the fun out of landing at your destination and making it up as you go along...

And that frozen parade was pitiful. I watched a few videos from it's debut, and the floats looked seriously empty. Have they filled them since? Or added more characters to them?

 

[RSoxNo1]

Magic Kingdom needs another eTicket. Or it would be nice anyways. But Epcot needs an eTicket even more. But animal kingdom needs a boatload of help. And the studios? As much as we hate it… There's two frozen girls may have helped beyond belief until they decide they're going to actually make over the **** park.

Re: Frozen at DHS. This is the type of stuff that the Studios should be used for. They should have the popular new movie present in some capacity in a day and date type thing. They strung together Frozen Summer Fun LIVE in less than 2 weeks, and they have theaters that can accommodate this sort of thing. Then, if something proves to be a success you can expand it within the Studios or in other relevant parks.

 

[RSoxNo1]

It look like Frozen was the Potter swatter and not Star Wars or Avatar.

Frozen absolutely could be a franchise to compete with Potter, and one that no one saw coming. Instead they're electing to shoehorn it into a boat ride that has a 964 ft track.

 

[TP2000]

I think there might be a couple of very sheltered and naïve people who think the Disney Parks Blog is actually real. The rest of us can smell the corporate fakeness coming off that Blog within a second of the page loading. And sadly, I honestly think there are people in Disney's communications department who think the Blog actually impresses consumers with more than a 5th grade education.

But just as a joke, I posted a "Hi Tom!" note on the Parks Blog. Let's see if it gets through.

For those keeping score at home... My "Hi Tom!" comment got through the corporate sensors at 3:37 PM Pacific Time.

Even after "Tom Staggs" (AKA a Communications Major @ UCLA intern sitting in a Burbank cubicle) started "answering" some of the comments. But "Tom Staggs" (Hey kid... Go Bruins!) didn't answer my comment and question to him. But at least I got my comment through.