The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[wdisney9000]

I'll just leave this here for later:

Here you go:

 

[ford91exploder]

I'll just leave this here for later:

Trouble is tin foil hats only amplify the mind control rays, See this study from MIT

http://web.archive.org/web/20100708230258/http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/

 

[ford91exploder]

Here you go:
View attachment 69235

Be a good Sheeple ...

 

[ford91exploder]

It's a CEO's job to make sure all aspects of the business are firing on all cylinders all the time. That's why Iger and other CEO's like him collect 8-figure incomes.

They sure as heck better take care of a huge business segment like Parks & Resorts (P&R), which generates 31% of company revenue.

Unless you are suggesting that a CEO is "too busy" to take care of one-third of his business.

Iger's failure to properly invest in P&R in general and WDW in particular has resulted in 7 or the company's 10 worst years of P&R gross margin.

Iger has been CEO for only 9 years.

Yep, in only 9 years, Iger's failure to understand the theme park business has resulted in 7 of P&R's 10 worst years.

Since Iger took over as CEO, Disney has spent about $38 billion on stock repurchases.

Maybe, just maybe, if he spent $36 billion on stock repurchases and used the remaining $2 billion to actually do something with WDW (which generates over half of P&R's revenue), P&R's gross margins wouldn't be at historic lows.

But nope, let's switch over to generic napkins. Let's let Disco Yeti stand idle for 8 years. Let's stop serving free nuts at the bars at the $500/night Deluxe Resorts. Let's have customers report about the poor conditions of those $500/night rooms. Let's not replace burned out bulbs at WDW's flagship hotel. Let's delay a new land at DAK for 6 years even as our competition up the road builds one in less than half the time. As every good CEO knows, these are all great strategies to improve margins.

Iger has been CEO for 9 years. It shouldn't take a CEO 9 years to figure out how to run one-third of his business.

When it comes to P&R, please, please, please stop making excuses for Iger.

Inquiring minds want to know whether TWDC is cancelling the shares or are they being 'gifted' to the executives ???

 

[TeriofTerror]

Noted. I've never been to a Cedar Fair park before - I just had to look at what they own. I've heard good things about Cedar Point and Knott's Berry Farm. What I just read puts them up around Dollywood levels.

I guess I see a tier with Disney and Universal at the top, and Six Flags jumping just ahead of places like Carowinds.

To be fair/truthful/etc, I don't visit theme parks that aren't Disney/Universal. I don't enjoy roller coasters where you can see the track, and I see no point in going. I've been to Six Flags a half dozen or more times, and am left bored and disgusted each time.

Shhh... Don't tell anyone, but I live 20 minutes from Cedar Point, my daughter has worked there for 2 summers, a ton of my friends work HalloWeekends, but I haven't been there in years. I've been to WDW at least a half-dozen times since the last time I visited CP. I actually had the chance to star in one of their HalloWeekend shows a few years back but wasn't able to because I'd miss two weekends... for a trip to WDW. I'm not very good at supporting the local economy, am I?

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Inquiring minds want to know whether TWDC is cancelling the shares or are they being 'gifted' to the executives ???

Bob Iger's third house fund?

 

[Bairstow]

Te only themed ride to come to great America in IL several years ago was te dark knight coaster which is basically a joke! Lol I honestly haven't been to GA for about 7 years!

Six Flags over Georgia actually had (key word being "had") some decent theming for their coasters in the '90s.
The Gotham City area for Batman and Mindbender was very ambitious with its green "toxic waste" waterfalls and giant Joel Shumacher statuary. They even built and entire artificial swamp for the Viper, complete with themed lighting, shacks, and tons of bayou landscaping. Today, everything is in chewing gum-covered shambles, save for the precious little Japanese rock garden outside of Ninja. You can still hear koto music playing faintly.

 

[BrerJon]

Bob Iger's third house fund?

I want someone to make a website with one of these sorts of charity total charts, tracking Disney profits over the next few years and seeing if we can get the 88B or whatever the total is that Bob needs for his mega million gold-watch retirement bonus payout. I suspect donations may even be tax deductible.

We could even record a WDWMagic charity song to raise awareness for his plight.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Tangent number 99876..... When will the mouse realize that FP+ only attractions and restaurants will not entice guests to stay on property; instead guests will head elsewhere.

There are only so many hoops guests will be willing to jump through before they say "Screw It"...

 

[FigmentJedi]

Six Flags over Georgia actually had (key word being "had") some decent theming for their coasters in the '90s.
The Gotham City area for Batman and Mindbender was very ambitious with its green "toxic waste" waterfalls and giant Joel Shumacher statuary. They even built and entire artificial swamp for the Viper, complete with themed lighting, shacks, and tons of bayou landscaping. Today, everything is in chewing gum-covered shambles, save for the precious little Japanese rock garden outside of Ninja. You can still hear koto music playing faintly.

Don't forget Monster Mansion/Plantation being the best dark ride that's ever been built at any Six Flags.

 

[Gabe1]

It's a CEO's job to make sure all aspects of the business are firing on all cylinders all the time. That's why Iger and CEO's like him collect 8-figure incomes.

They sure as heck better take care of a huge business segment like Parks & Resorts (P&R), which generates 31% of company revenue.

Unless you are suggesting that a CEO is "too busy" to take care of one-third of his business.

Iger's failure to properly invest in P&R in general and WDW in particular has resulted in 7 or the company's 10 worst years of P&R gross margin.

Iger has been CEO for only 9 years.

Yep, in only 9 years, Iger's failure to understand the theme park business has resulted in 7 of P&R's 10 worst years.

Since Iger took over as CEO, Disney has spent about $38 billion on stock repurchases.

Maybe, just maybe, if he spent $36 billion on stock repurchases and used the remaining $2 billion to actually do something with WDW (which generates over half of P&R's revenue), P&R's gross margins wouldn't be at historic lows.

But nope, let's switch over to generic napkins. Let's let Disco Yeti stand idle for years. Let's stop serving free nuts at the bars at the $500/night Deluxe Resorts. Let's have customers report about the poor conditions of those $500/night rooms. Let's not replace burned out bulbs at WDW's flagship hotel. Let's delay a new land at DAK for 6 years even as our competition up the road builds one in less than half the time. As every good CEO knows, these are all great strategies to improve margins at a resort that generates $8 billion in revenue annually.

Let's keep nickel-and-diming our 'guests' as we relentlessly raise prices on them.

But, no matter what we do, lets not invest in order to actually improve our product.

Iger has been CEO for 9 years. It shouldn't take a CEO 9 years to figure out how to run one-third of his business.

When it comes to P&R, please, please, please stop making excuses for Iger.

I really really love this post. Wish I could make it go Disney Viral.

 

[bhg469]

Tangent number 99876..... When will the mouse realize that FP+ only attractions and restaurants will not entice guests to stay on property; instead guests will head elsewhere.

There are only so many hoops guests will be willing to jump through before they say "Screw It"...

Something has got to give at some point.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Something has got to give at some point.

I've hit my breaking point.

 

[cheezbat]

You know I like you, but are you seriously advocating TWDC lease WDW to Six Flags or Cedar Faire, whose parks are known for being filthy, overly loud, cash grabs? I live not that far from Great America in IL - the place is disgusting. It's exactly what Disneyland was made to avoid, very little for people who don't like roller coasters to do, poorly run/managed, and constant media attention for accidents.

I hope SF or Cedar Fair never end up with the Disney parks...but that being said:
Having visited both SF Great America and Magic Kingdom just a little while back, I can honestly say that park cleanliness was almost identical...maybe even better at SF the day I went (and it was busy!)

The difference is in the ride experiences. MK gives you highly themed rides and queues, SF does not...but SF keeps the new attractions coming, and all three of their newer attractions (Goliath, X-Flight, and Buccaneer Bay Splash Battle) were very well done and highly entertaining.

Honestly, WDW has fallen quite far the past decade. They need to get back on their maintenance track as well as adding more quality additions.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Tangent number 99876..... When will the mouse realize that FP+ only attractions and restaurants will not entice guests to stay on property; instead guests will head elsewhere.

There are only so many hoops guests will be willing to jump through before they say "Screw It"...

Hell, I came to that point back in the 80's especially for restaurants. You can count on the fingers of one hand how many Disney restaurants I have gone too. Too much hassle for mediocre food and gouging prices.

 

[RivieraJenn]

Don't forget Monster Mansion/Plantation being the best dark ride that's ever been built at any Six Flags.

If I'm not mistaken, Monster Plantation was designed by former Imagineers.

 

[Nemo14]

I've hit my breaking point.

My husband and I just talked about this the other day. We gave up staying in the parks a few years ago, and seldom eat in the parks because there's a lot of better and cheaper options outside the bubbly gates. But now that just visiting the parks requires spreadsheets and smart phones, we'll just take our money elsewhere. There are so many more delightful vacation options out there (and they're not all in central Florida!), and life is too short .

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Fincher describes his version of 20,000 Leagues.

PLAYBOY: For better or worse, over the years lots of Fincher projects have been announced and then vanished, including a top-chef project meant to star Keanu Reeves and a Steve Jobs movie with a script by Aaron Sorkin, who won an Oscar for writing The Social Network. But the most intriguing was a proposed remake of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
FINCHER: Dude, it was ing cool. It was smart and crazy entertaining, with the Nautilus crew fighting every kind of gigantic Ray Harryhausen thing. But it also had this riptide to it. We were doing Osama bin Nemo, a Middle Eastern prince from a wealthy family who has decided that white imperialism is evil and should be resisted. The notion was to put kids in a place where they’d say, “I agree with everything he espouses. I take issue with his means—or his ends.” I really wanted to do it, but in the end I didn’t have the stomach lining for it. A lot of people flourish at Hollywood studios because they’re fear-based. I have a hard time relating to that, because I feel our biggest responsibility is to give the audience something they haven’t seen.

 

[bhg469]

Hell, I came to that point back in the 80's especially for restaurants. You can count on the fingers of one hand how many Disney restaurants I have gone too. Too much hassle for mediocre food and gouging prices.

It was a lot more recent for me, in fact, there are still great restaurants on property, just none in the parks. Sanaa, and the wave are 2 of my favs. Other than that, I'm right on board with you.

I wouldn't dream of getting the dining plan again. That was a perfect example of how they took something pretty good and completely ruined it.

 

[FrankLapidus]

Fincher describes his version of 20,000 Leagues.

I love Fincher's work but am relieved this proposed project never worked out. Some films just shouldn't be remade, 20,000 Leagues is one of them for me. I don't think even Fincher could get a performance out of an actor that could equal, never mind emulate, James Mason's Captain Nemo.