The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

This is on the Huff Post this morning.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kenneth-lerer/the-end-of-seaworld_b_5680119.html

SeaWorld, as we know it today, is over. It's only a matter of time. The company is finished. Here's why.
1. The SeaWorld brand is now tarnished, at best. Toxic? Likely. The brand represents the torture of whales for an increasing population of concerned citizens. If you love whales (and who doesn't), you don't like SeaWorld.
2. Wall Street has turned on SeaWorld. The stock is down over the last year by 45% and $1.6 billion in market cap has evaporated. You can sometimes fight City Hall, but it's nearly impossible to fight Wall Street. And Wall Street is done with SeaWorld.
3. Consumers are turning away from SeaWorld with attendance dropping 4.3 percent over the first 6 months of 2014. It takes forever and a day for consumers to return to a company once they have walked away. And they usually never come back.
4. The internet has turned against SeaWorld. "Blackfish," The Oceanic Preservation Society, The Dodo, Change.org and many other sites have made it their business to actively campaign against SeaWorld's mistreatment of animals. SeaWorld can't survive that, plain and simple.
5. SeaWorld has proven itself totally inept in dealing with 1, 2, 3 and 4. They haven't got a clue.
Business as usual is not a solution. SeaWorld can hold on for a few more years, as its stock continues to fall into the single digits and its market cap becomes untenable. Or SeaWorld management and investors can hit the reset button. Begin a program to provide a better life for the whales it has in captivity, be a world-wide leader and symbol of caring for animals, save its brand and save the company. I'm sure they can figure out a better use for those tanks.

I thought it was interesting as the convo had turned to Sea World a few pages back. Do you think the parks will actually close, or will management/owners simply shift?

 

[xdan0920]

This is on the Huff Post this morning.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kenneth-lerer/the-end-of-seaworld_b_5680119.html




I thought it was interesting as the convo had turned to Sea World a few pages back. Do you think the parks will actually close, or will management/owners simply shift?

They are dumping hundreds of millions into improving their enclosures. Announced this morning.

 

[dupac]

The movie has made nearly $200 million in the US to date and the gif has been in circulation online for some time now. Anyone reading this thread has likely already seen it.

(not to mention the gif without the music or entire film frame does not spoil the whole scene)

Yeah.... haven't seen it. Hope I won't be disappointed.

 

[BernardandBianca]

Scroll up. $625.

A typical lunch for us goes about $50 including beverage and tip. Doing the math, it takes about 13 lunches to pay for the card. (Actually it is less if you get the card for the AP/FL rate of $100.) About once a month.

 

[dupac]

20% savings plus the mandatory 18% gratuity. So 2% savings per meal. BUT You're gonna tip anyways, so lets figure 20% over what you normally would have paid for at the mouse.

I'll do the math....

$125 = (Amount Spent) * .20
$125/.20 = Amount Spent
$625 = Amount Spent.


If you're an AP holder that comes here 2 weeks at a time (Two weeks at the front end, two weeks at the back end) & get TIW, assuming family of four, figure you can recoup that money and actually have a deal. You can make back $625 if you have 10 meals over the course of a year with just 2 people. Figure 5 meals on a family of 4. (Quicker if you drink.) Plus free parking or valet.

Given the right circumstances.... it works for some people. It used to work for me. Not anymore.

If you're looking at how much you have to spend to actually save money, including gratuity? $6250. 2% savings.

If your meal before the discount is $100, your bill would be $80 of course. With gratuity you pay $98, assuming that tip is 18% of the bill before the discount. That's a difference of $20.

$20 (what you saved) / $118 (what you would have paid) = 16.9% savings.

So a little better than 2%, but still.

Unless I have the math all turned around and backwards in my head. If so I apologize!

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

They are dumping hundreds of millions into improving their enclosures. Announced this morning.

Interesting that it was announced this morning amidst all the Sea World taking a nosedive talk going around.

I'm gonna go find the article. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[xdan0920]

Interesting that it was announced this morning amidst all the Sea World taking a nosedive talk going around.

I'm gonna go find the article. Thanks for the heads up.

Probably their only move here. They need to start engendering some good will again, and those commercials, while cute, wasn't enough.

If they can't get Joe public back on their side, they are done for.

 

[Mike S]

Yeah.... haven't seen it. Hope I won't be disappointed.

You won't be. Best Marvel movie so far.

 

[TeriofTerror]

I still wonder how can you recoup the money invested in this "discount" thing.
I mean, 120 USD is a huge chunk.. its only for a year right?
I wonder how many times you have to actually eat in the mentioned restaurants to even start to see savings.

It's only $100 for me (AP holder/DVC member) and includes alcohol -- so I recoup my investment rather quickly! (Hiccup)

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Will Teflon Bob accept the Ice Bucket Challenge?

 

[Nland316]

@WDW1974 what do you think of the Paint the Night sneak peeks that have surfaced online? They're pretty stellar if you ask me.. Any news on Disneyland's version?

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

Probably their only move here. They need to start engendering some good will again, and those commercials, while cute, wasn't enough.

If they can't get Joe public back on their side, they are done for.

The concept art looks quite beautiful.. But I saw no mention of whether they were doing away with Orcas in the shows.

 

[ford91exploder]

Will Teflon Bob accept the Ice Bucket Challenge?

Answer is obvious - NO.

 

[71jason]

If your meal before the discount is $100, your bill would be $80 of course. With gratuity you pay $98, assuming that tip is 18% of the bill before the discount. That's a difference of $20.

$20 (what you saved) / $118 (what you would have paid) = 16.9% savings.

So a little better than 2%, but still.

Unless I have the math all turned around and backwards in my head. If so I apologize!

The $18 valet charges add up quickly too. The ONLY reason I renewed last year was I foresaw DTD parking becoming an issue. Of course, had I realized valet would be almost as bad, wouldn't have bothered.

 

[ratherbeinwdw]

I make the money back by eating breakfast at the resorts where you don't pay a gratuity so you save a full 20%. We also saved on our mugs. Breakfast for four of us was around 40.00 per morning. We saved 8.00 per morning times 8 days. For our trip in May and June alone, we got all our money back. On top of that, we ate at Restaurantosaurus and Pizzafari at Animal Kingdom. We had friends with us for a total of 8 people. We saved a full 20% on those bills. So, all our table service amounts were like free money to us.

 

[GoofGoof]

If your meal before the discount is $100, your bill would be $80 of course. With gratuity you pay $98, assuming that tip is 18% of the bill before the discount. That's a difference of $20.

$20 (what you saved) / $118 (what you would have paid) = 16.9% savings.

So a little better than 2%, but still.

Unless I have the math all turned around and backwards in my head. If so I apologize!

The tip is not relevant. You pay a tip no matter what (unless you plan to stiff the waiter). If you would have paid $100 and now you pay $80 for the food you saved 20% or $20. If you spend $500 on food you break even. If you spend $1000 you save $100. If you know you are going to spend over $500 what's the reason to not get it?

 

[Fe Maiden]

The tip is not relevant. You pay a tip no matter what (unless you plan to stiff the waiter). If you would have paid $100 and now you pay $80 for the food you saved 20% or $20. If you spend $500 on food you break even. If you spend $1000 you save $100. If you know you are going to spend over $500 what's the reason to not get it?

Exactly, we're a family of 6, we probably hit $500 on our fourth day out of a seven day vacation.

 

[dupac]

The tip is not relevant. You pay a tip no matter what (unless you plan to stiff the waiter). If you would have paid $100 and now you pay $80 for the food you saved 20% or $20. If you spend $500 on food you break even. If you spend $1000 you save $100. If you know you are going to spend over $500 what's the reason to not get it?

Without the discount you're paying $118. With, you're paying $98. That's not 20% savings. But, regardless, you're right. It's only worthwhile if you know you'll be eating out that frequently/spending that much anyway.

ETA: Maybe I'm looking at it wrong but that's how I would figure out where I would break even.

 

[Bolna]

It's only $100 for me (AP holder/DVC member) and includes alcohol -- so I recoup my investment rather quickly! (Hiccup)

However, AP holders and DVC members get a 10% discount at a number of restaurants. So depending on where you eat, you might only save an additional 10% on top of the discount you would have gotten anyway.

 

[michmousefan]

Answer is obvious - NO.

I'm inclined to agree with you, although I certainly wish he would -- it would be great to watch him desperately trying to appear "hip" and "relevant." Plus there might be a clue as to whom his successor might be if he names Staggs or Rasulo in his challenge.