The Spirited Sixth Sense ...

Soarin' Over Pgh

Soarin' Over Pgh

Well-Known Member
Stevek

Stevek

Well-Known Member
So we were in WDW visiting MK and Epcot...only there for 2 park days on Sun/Monday. I found FP+ to be very easy to use and allowed us tremendous flexibility to make switches during the day. Was it perfect, no way but it worked fine for us. In some respects, the flexibility to make changes on the fly and not have to run around the park grabbing FP's is a positive. That being said, we accomplished 99% of what we wanted to in the MK. I'm still not in love with being limited to 3 FP's. You can read my full trip report here...warning, it's long.

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/a-quick-trip-to-wdw-report.881976/
 
novawildcat18

novawildcat18

Well-Known Member
njDizFan

njDizFan

Well-Known Member
I cringe whenever I hear anybody mention their upcoming Disney Vacations. It almost always starts with a caveat. Something like..."you know the kids wanted to go", or "we decided that it would be fun for the kids". I don't know if people are embarassed that as adults they will be enjoying a Mickey Mouse vacation or they in fact believe that if you don't have kids under 12 you have no reason to go.

Poor marketing... the brand has truely been weakened.
 
F

fbb

Active Member
Soarin' Over Pgh said:
People like this couple should be Disney's focus- they have raised children, both have solidly good (and by my standards, fabulously great jobs that send them around the world for conferences, meetings, etc, and pick up the tabs) careers and have money to burn. Instead they're going after the young Moms and Dads. A mistake, IMHO.
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Why do you think that couple should be the focus? And do you mean focus of marketing or focus of future attractions?
 
Stevek

Stevek

Well-Known Member
njDizFan said:
I cringe whenever I hear anybody mention their upcoming Disney Vacations. It almost always starts with a caveat. Something like..."you know the kids wanted to go", or "we decided that it would be fun for the kids". I don't know if people are embarassed that as adults they will be enjoying a Mickey Mouse vacation or they in fact believe that if you don't have kids under 12 you have no reason to go.

Poor marketing... the brand has truely been weakened.
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Interesting comment. We went without our 14/12 year old daughters this time, only for a couple days, and people were really surprised that we would go without them. We heard this comment from both co-workers and CM's/Guests at WDW.
 
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ParkMan73

Active Member
Stevek said:
So I actually ran into Michael on Monday at the Paris Pavillion in Epcot. Said hello to him, no response. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he just didn't hear me. Was there with his wife eating ice cream, no plaids anywhere to be seen. Below is what I posted on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/DarthDopey/status/448173120298684416/photo/1
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I'm impressed that he still visits. Living it day after day for many years, I'd guess that he'd want to find somewhere else to go.

Good for him!
 
I

Ignohippo

Well-Known Member
Stevek said:
Interesting comment. We went without our 14/12 year old daughters this time, only for a couple days, and people were really surprised that we would go without them. We heard this comment from both co-workers and CM's/Guests at WDW.
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Unfortunately, TDO doesn't want you. They want the family of 4 because they drive merch sales, more days, more park admissions, and more food costs.

Why they would choose to ignore this segment is beyond me. A couple spending a weekend at WDW would certainly have more discretionary income than their coveted teenagers from Brazil.

One of the best times we ever had was drinking around the world with a group of friends at EPCOT. Unfortunately, the WDW resort is lacking those types of experiences (a big reason why I think DHS should be re-imagined as Disney's thrill park, but that's another discussion).

Most adults would rather go to Universal, which doesn't mind taking their money and treats them like a coveted commodity – unlike Disney, which could care less.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
ParkMan73 said:
There's got to be more still coming though. I don't care how many servers, RFID readers, or website developers they've bought. For what it's doing so far - they cannot have spent 1B+ on this. It just doesn't add up.
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NextGen also included the queue projects at The Haunted Mansion and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Despite its lack of implementation, the cost of design for Peter Pan's Flight is probably there as well plus the new bathrooms that opened up that space. Training thousands of employees are part of the cost. Not to mention all of the meetings, and Disney LOVES meetings.
 
danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
lazyboy97o said:
NextGen also included the queue projects at The Haunted Mansion and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Despite its lack of implementation, the cost of design for Peter Pan's Flight is probably there as well plus the new bathrooms that opened up that space. Training thousands of employees are part of the cost. Not to mention all of the meetings, and Disney LOVES meetings.
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We also don't know how much the project changed in scope. It might have started out simple, but when they realized what could be done with it they could have started to tack on more and more things they wanted it to do.
 
Cesar R M

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
orky8 said:
This would imply Disney is driven by guest satisfaction and not bottom line dollars, which we know is backwards. I don't see magicbands going away until Disney decides they cost too much and aren't worth the marginal improvement to guest satisfaction that they offer.

Besides, magicbands are actually quite nice and do improve the guest experience. To be clear -- NO -- they were not worth the massive investment Disney has made in MyMagic+ instead of attractions, but they are convenient, especially if staying on property. I don't really see anything negative about the bands themselves and those who don't want them can still get RFID cards instead. They weren't worth the investment, probably, but that investment already happened. Give them a try, you'll find they are actually kinda nice.

Everyone -- this board and Disney's Board -- needs to move on from MyMagic+ and accept that it will never deliver a ROI, but instead was a sunk cost to offer marginal improvement to the guest experience. Ironically, in some ways, it's one of the most Disney things Disney has done in a while (albeit, completely unintentionally). Instead of waiting for an ROI that will never materialize, it's time write it off and move on to investing in the parks the old fashioned way -- building attractions.

ETA: although, now as I reread your post, perhaps you post meant they aren't getting people to come back, which I would agree -- they won't do that. Not, as I read it at first, that they aren't coming back because of them. In short, magicbands won't change guest behavior one way or the other, IMO. They are nice, but not influential.
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Agree with you, they are really convenient... and feels faster than taking wallet out and swip card.

71jason said:
This. Hotel guests love them, very convenient room key, makes it easy to buy a pina colada or a burger poolside. Until WDW springs for retina scanners on the doors, the bands will probably be sticking around. I bet they give PhotoPass a boost as well.

But FastPass+? I suspect its days are (relatively) numbered. The good thing is I imagine it will be easy to retrofit MagicBands into a pay-for-access Fastpass.
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Agree again!


ABQ said:
Not sure if it's the top selling Disney animation ever, but the Lion King sold something along 4.5 million video tapes day one. Frozen supposedly sold 3.2 million DVDs (combined bluray/traditional DVD) including pre-orders day 1. Not too shabby, but not Lion Kingesque yet. However, there were no online streaming on demand options for Simba and his pals. Not sure if those totals for Frozen will be released.
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I think Lion King still was superior, Frozen had the guerrilla marketing and fanmade stuff produced in the internet.. while the lion king didnt.


Soarin' Over Pgh said:
She did compliment the packaging the bands came in, saying it was really nice but questioned why they were mailed to her house versus waiting for her at the hotel when she checks in. I thought about this and... yeah, why do they mail it to you?


Anyhow I asked for an update on her trip when she gets back.
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Conspiracy Keanu mode..

What if they sent the bands and they spy on you at your home or the trip they do until they reach your home? ;)
 
Stevek

Stevek

Well-Known Member
Ignohippo said:
Unfortunately, TDO doesn't want you. They want the family of 4 because they drive merch sales, more days, more park admissions, and more food costs.

Why they would choose to ignore this segment is beyond me. A couple spending a weekend at WDW would certainly have more discretionary income than their coveted teenagers from Brazil.

One of the best times we ever had was drinking around the world with a group of friends at EPCOT. Unfortunately, the WDW resort is lacking those types of experiences (a big reason why I think DHS should be re-imagined as Disney's thrill park, but that's another discussion).

Most adults would rather go to Universal, which doesn't mind taking their money and treats them like a coveted commodity – unlike Disney, which could care less.
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Our bill for food, drinks and souveniers alone was a grand. That's for 2 days in the parks and 2 add'l half days. They'd be stupid to ignore us.
 
crispy

crispy

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
Shame on you for jumping down someone's throat even when they corrected you. No, you were biased to jump on me about it. Go back to the original post, notice how there are TWO paragraphs, not one? Then rewind the clock and recall when writing, why do you start a new paragraph?

If you want a simple example of my thought... just look at the shoes that girls wear now. Platform stilettos used to be tramp shoes... now... teenagers wear them.

Knee high boots used to be exotic sexy... now... they are business casual.

Let's not forget... in 1990... this image was supposed to be a hooker...
julia-roberts-pretty-woman.jpg


Looks like a mom picking up dry cleaning these days...
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I wasn't wrong so there was no need to correct me. When you start a sentence with the word "but" it's usually to indicate that you are referring to the previous sentence and continuing a thought whether you use a paragraph break or not. And, seriously, I don't know where you live, but I run into very few moms dressed as hookers on a daily basis.

And I am done.
 
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Soarin' Over Pgh

Soarin' Over Pgh

Well-Known Member
fbb said:
Why do you think that couple should be the focus? And do you mean focus of marketing or focus of future attractions?
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Easy. They have grown children, so their primary focus is not on child rearing. Their house is paid off in full, so there is no mortgage to worry about. Their cars are paid off.

They should be the focus because they have something that a lot of families, especially ones with small children, don't have much of: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

And when I say focus, I mean focus of attractions, of park maintenance (more benches in Epcot, please!) and in general. After all, it's not the CHILDREN who are paying the hefty pricetag of the Disney vacation- it's their parents. Sure, Susie and Tommy might be screaming to go to Disney World, but if Mom and Dad can't afford the trip, the kids aren't going.

But also, not all of us who go to WDW are parents. I'm not. None of my friends are. We don't need to be talked to like we're 7, and convinced we need to meet Mickey.

And then there's the hotel factor. Why settle for selling those travelling with no kids on AoA if you can sell them on Wilderness Lodge instead?
 
F

fbb

Active Member
Soarin' Over Pgh said:
Easy. They have grown children, so their primary focus is not on child rearing. Their house is paid off in full, so there is no mortgage to worry about. Their cars are paid off.

They should be the focus because they have something that a lot of families, especially ones with small children, don't have much of: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

And when I say focus, I mean focus of attractions, of park maintenance (more benches in Epcot, please!) and in general. After all, it's not the CHILDREN who are paying the hefty pricetag of the Disney vacation- it's their parents. Sure, Susie and Tommy might be screaming to go to Disney World, but if Mom and Dad can't afford the trip, the kids aren't going.

But also, not all of us who go to WDW are parents. I'm not. None of my friends are. We don't need to be talked to like we're 7, and convinced we need to meet Mickey.

And then there's the hotel factor. Why settle for selling those travelling with no kids on AoA if you can sell them on Wilderness Lodge instead?
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I hear you and I would like your way better, but the battle is over and the princesses won.
 

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