The Spirited Sixth Sense ...

[WDW1974]

The truly sad part is that Uni's strategy is to invest heavily in its theme parks in order to provide guests with some impressive additions over the next few years, and do it for significantly less than what WDW charges for a multiday ticket.

WDW's strategy is to provide guests with rubber bands, move its Frozen meet-and-greet so more can stand in line, change the layout of the central hub so more can cram into it to see fireworks, add a parade in which the centerpiece already is non-functional, and charge a family of 4 many hundreds of dollars more for the "privilege" of doing it, all because anything with Mouse Ears slapped on it is more "magical".

I guess a sucker is born every minute.

I thought P.T. Barnum was dead. Instead, it looks like he's alive and well running WDW's theme parks.

That's not P.T. Barnum. ... It's my old pal George A. Kalogridis.

 

[WDW1974]

There are plenty of honest, hard-working folk who cannot be bought or influenced, who remain true to their own convictions.

And that's why they almost never climb the corporate or political career ladder.

It's nearly impossible to get above a certain level without compromising ones own principles or simply not having any.

That is true to large extent. You either compromise who you are (unless you are born into incredible wealth and somehow still have a soul) or you don't get very far in Big Business or politics. You can't have scruples and stick to them and be successful in most things in life. You just can't.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

DLP does quite a bit for St. Patrick's Day, and at no extra charge for guests.

Why was none of it copied for LTM last year?

 

[WDW1974]

I didn't even think of that, but think it's a great move. I'm very intrigued by the offerings at the Marketplace Co Op, it sounds like it's the type of merchandise that Disney fans have been asking for. Hopefully it's a far cry from the homogenized crap available in every store.

To your point about spending money on nostalgia, I see no problem with it whatsoever. These are things that I (and others) liked, and if I had a Horizons shirt from the 80s or 90s that fit me (good luck with that) I'd be wearing that.

Totally disagree.

It's like you are rewarding WDW for taking away what you loved and replacing it with crap. I don't own anything from the great EPCOT Center attractions that wasn't purchased when they existed.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Totally disagree.

It's like you are rewarding WDW for taking away what you loved and replacing it with crap. I don't own anything from the great EPCOT Center attractions that wasn't purchased when they existed.

I understand your perspective, but I disagree with it. Having said that, recently I'm more apt to buy stuff from unauthorized third party people who have better quality products.

 

[Lee]

I think you guys keep forgetting to send me an invite. You know I'd love to get together and do that ...

You will be invited to this year's meeting.
Date and time TBD.
Location...The Leaky Cauldron.

 

[JimboJones123]

Well, the problem is we have manthose -pounders who can barely walk, paying Disney just so they can get the bling.

That just makes me sick as someone who used to run competitively (really! ancient times!) and who has many friends who regularly run and COMPLETE the Disney races. Sorry, but you want the race medal? You gotta finish the race or you should get some small pin or a certificate of competing.

I think we already had this discussion and it turned nasty, but I don't care. I'm right.

There is also a massive market for 10ks that could be milked as well. Opening those races to only 8k runners does not help.

In 2 years the prices will be $250 for the halfs. That will help keep some of the more pedestrian runners away.

 

[nor'easter]

. our next made up story should be Small World moving to EPCOT, so that building can be a Frozen ride. You wanna do that one? Or how about a DVC taking the place of the TTC? Or Disney moving to a model where certain days a week only on-site resort guests will be able to enter the MK? ...

Stop giving the brain trust at Disney ideas.

 

[SirLink]

...

That means other than the Anna and Elsa cosplay deal at Epcot. Seriously, how mentally ill must an adult be to pay $100 a day (or less) and stand in a line for 2-3-4 hours to meet college co-eds playing dress up?

...

Said the Spirit to the Knight ...

 

[WDW1974]

You will be invited to this year's meeting.
Date and time TBD.
Location...The Leaky Cauldron.

Is that in New Fantasyland? Can the three of us go meet Rapunzel first?

 

[aladdin2007]

Friday was once a great night for TV. When I was a kid we'd watch Dukes of Hazzard (hey, I was a kid too!) and then Dallas. ... ABC then did the TGIF thing in the 90s and was quite successful. FOX started X-Files on Fridays and I remember having parties with friends to watch that and then Picket Fences (great, great show ) on CBS.

Now, after years of ignoring Fridays, the networks are starting to really program it seriously again.

Naturally, CBS is doing the best with Hawaii Five-O and Blue Bloods. The first is worth watching for all the scenery ... the second I've never seen.

I'd like to say I am never home on Friday nights, but I'd also like to say that I have a few billion in off-shore accounts.

Def agree, and NBC has a pretty good hit with Grimm, its one of my favs. Okay back to the WDW mess lol.

 

[WDWFigment]

Well that explains that... They have a new menu. Seafood chowder, and what seems to be chili CONE carne imported from Cali. :/

They had soups when we were there, too, but not the cones. I can't stand those cones at DCA, so I guess I have no reason to go back there (there as in the Gazebo, not TDR!).

I'm actually a bit surprised that the cones aren't all they've imported from Cars Land. My Japanese friends (who have visited the states--which is most of them, because Japanese Disney fans aren't afraid to travel internationally) all are infatuated with Cars Land. When you think about it, it really does make more sense there--an incredibly well done land, with merchandising! If I were a betting man, I'd say Cars Land goes to Tokyo Disneyland before it goes to Disney's Hollywood Studios.

 

[Lee]

Is that in New Fantasyland? Can the three of us go meet Rapunzel first?

No and absolutely, positively no.
Engage in your character stalking activities on your own time.

These meetings are all business.

 

[SirLink]

Is that in New Fantasyland? Can the three of us go meet Rapunzel first?

Damn it I guess I can't use my Extendable Ears to listen in to your meeting, I would never get my broomstick in range with their low flying zone rules. Boooo...

 

[ThemeParkJunkee]

Wow, go to actual work (bean counting) and come back to 9 or 10 unread pages.

Dear diety! I do hope Disney has more imagination than to replace Iger with Staggs or Rasulo. Rasulo would be worse though.

Happy Saint Paddy's day! I wore a suit today entirely a dark, forest green and my co-workers loved it. I understand if not everyone gets festive for this occasion.

My local Target store still has Elsa dresses, but no Anna stuff. I guess in the frozen north with a large Norwegian contingent, the ethnic look sells out first. Plus, we are a practical group. We tend to relate to nice, girl-next-door types with cool ethnic costumes and less to the impractical, super-power weilding, princess types. Ummm...full disclosure, I haven't even seen the movie yet and don't know if I will. I've been kind of disappointed in the "princess films" for a while.

Just "gleeful" about the fact that the dragon is no longer breathing fire. Whose epic fail this is (fire marshal issues, crowd safety or imagineering) doesn't matter to me. Gleeful you ask? Well yes, it kind of proves a point I've been trying to make to some other people because I travel all over and don't just "do Disney".

Whew, caught up a little.

Now, to catch up on Walking Dead....thanks for no actual spoilers.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I don't know what people have been doing there the last decade. There were periods when even with my AP where I wouldn't visit more than once (one day) in a year.

I used to go to dine at Brown Derby and ride ToT and RnRC.

Now, I won't pay Brown Derby prices or make arrangements six months out ... RnRC is getting too damn rough. I do like the new Star Tours too. But there just isn't much at that park at all.

I don't call it a half day park. More like a two-three hours at most park.

Getting too rough or are you getting too soft? Hell, I'm almost 66 years old and I still find RnRC to be a kiddy ride.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

WDW spending has been severely cut to make up for MM+ rollout issues.

Does that mean that the Avatar project may also suffer severely from budget cuts (more than has already occurred) and end up in an even lesser form than some people already were worried about? I guess I don't have to wonder what will happen to maintenance either. WDW maintenance has already been bad enough for many years now even without a now well over $2,000,000,000 nextgen disaster to throw a wrench in the budgeting. Many rides and attractions heavy on effects and animatronics have been in dire condition for a long time. I don't even want to imagine the mess cutting yet more money from maintenance is going to cause (I wouldn't wonder if it was multi millions based on the ridiculous money pit that the nextgen disaster has caused them).

That's wise.

But I truly see them going outside. It isn't what Iger wants. He wants to reward the winner of the Rasulo-Staggs Battle to the Death. But the BoD and Wall Street are not enamored with either guy, thankfully.

I don't see a repeat of when Iger was basically forced into the position.

I hope you are right about that. But the problem is that even though they definitely need to look outside their ranks for talent, there's still no guarantee they won't end up picking another Iger clone all the same. His kind are far from exclusive to TWDC and very common as we've clearly seen from this economic disaster. Going outside the company isn't a sure fire way to improve things. They need to also be willing to pick the right person for the job and get away from the destructive cost cutting and short term money scams that make up Iger's philosophy. So while the board may have interest in going outside to find new blood, they may still choose a leader with similar business practices to that of Iger.

My question though is whether (in your opinion) there is actually ANY signs that the board is beginning to show a willingness to pick a CEO more focused on pushing creativity and quality to grow the business? Or are we just likely to end up with another Iger clone whose only interest is the short term bottom line (at the expense of the customer) and more ridiculous nextgen like money scams? I'm worried the board still may not come to their senses by the time Iger's reign is up even if they look outside the company for new leadership. The success of Cars Land as a massive attendance booster for a theme park (and the success of Frozen as a movie) along with the abysmal financial failure of nextgen should have been a huge eye opener to the board about the right and wrong paths, yet they still seem to have issues seeing the right way to conduct their business...

There's also the problem of restructuring WDI to be less toxic and bring in better creatives (like the ones fired or forced into retirement who now work for the competition). Also eliminate all the ridiculous bloat and red tape that causes park projects to cost several times as much money and time to build than they should.

Getting too rough or are you getting too soft? Hell, I'm almost 66 years old and I still find RnRC to be a kiddy ride.

There's a huge difference between a ride being thrilling and just uncomfortable (or rough). Expedition Everest is well above Space Mountain in thrills for example, but is far newer and with a much smoother ride (and i've heard tell they've made Space Mountain even less thrilling recently with more brakes because of the stress it's putting on the track, and because they didn't refurb it properly back in '09). Many now aging coasters need track replacements to keep them smooth. Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris (which I hear is rather similar to R&RC) was said a few years ago to have become too uncomfortable to ride anymore by some people. Dunno if they fixed that, but it's not about people getting older or being too thrilling. I'm pretty young (25) and like a fun thrill to some extent, but I don't like getting off a ride with bruises and an annoying headache I didn't start out with caused by the track (or vehicles) deteriorating with age.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

3D combo yes, but I'm not too sure about more bonus features. Disney has been quite cheap in that department for some time now, so I don't think it's a given like so many online expect it to be. Do the 3D combos out now in the UK or South Korea have more bonus features?

To answer my own question, the UK 3D combo does not have any more bonus features.

 

[asianway]

Serious question - after last years Annual meeting questions, is anyone else convinced the people in the Q&A are all PR ringers? No one is that mentally ill.

 

[Goofyernmost]

There's a huge difference between a ride being thrilling and just uncomfortable (or rough). Expedition Everest is well above Space Mountain in thrills for example, but is far newer and with a much smoother ride (and i've heard tell they've made Space Mountain even less thrilling recently with more brakes because of the stress it's putting on the track, and because they didn't refurb it properly back in '09). Many now aging coasters need track replacements to keep them smooth.

That didn't answer the question. It isn't one tiny bit rougher for you then it is for me. I'm thinking that they might be building the Mine Train just for you tender folk.