The Spirited Sixth Sense ...

[The Empress Lilly]

Kissing men are shown, too LOL. What American television are you watching?

Well currently my tv diet consists of David Attenborough, French costume drama, and New Girl.

Oh, and WWE!!

More to the point, in general, American mainstream culture is a tad less liberal than Europe. I even get the idea when I do see more daring American tv - HBO, Game of Thrones - that they are overcompensating. GoT has got sex and violence that borders on and snuff movies. Which means in the end it is still as far removed from daily sex and real violence as the prudish culture it tries to be aloof of.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

What I've learned from House of Cards...

Spoiler: Spoiler

It's not gay if it's in a three-way.

Oh, speaking of. I adored the classic British House of Cards. Saw it the other day and it showed its age a bit. But still good.

Is the new US version worth my while to watch?

 

[Gabe1]

Won't disagree with either of these, its just MK has things I can quantify as positive improvements in that last 10 years.

I was just thinking about how sad it was from my own experience that Epcot, even in the spring of 1998 still had the original Imagination, WoL, Sea Base Alpha, SSE with an ending, Horizons (I think), a less dated UoE etc. The more I think, the more I get depressed about half of that park, and I am in no way emotionally invested in the "EPCOT Center" cocept.



I don't have an AP, CM connections or Florida resident status. If I want to visit WDW for any length of time it's either a)a special WDW centric trip to Orlando or b)a one-day side trip from something like Universal (my preferred way). I splurge on a one-day ticket, because I know in the end I (personally) get more value out of a 10 hour + day at MK, than an even more overpriced multi-day, on-site stay. Event parties are even better for this purpose.

A friend, former mega Disney fan has a DVC. He methodically goes down once a year to stay in his villa. Several years ago he bought a 10 day hop pass that didn't expire and had left over days on some other multi day passes over the years. He has been doing one day, two at the most at Disney and then hits up Uni for either a day sometime two all while staying at his DVC.

He was very successful touring Disney Parks when there were more and longer EMHs. Now he has to plan his DVC week a little more carefully and generally skips AK. This year he didn't use any of his old passes and just hit the Halloween and Christmas Party in the same week and went into the Uni Parks 2 days. He feels with how stagnant the park attractions are since he got his timeshare (a wedding gift) he gets his moneys worth out of the DVC enjoying the resort.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Oh, speaking of. I adored the classic British House of Cards. Saw it the other day and it showed its age a bit. But still good.

Is the new US version worth my while to watch?

Not really. Orange is the New Black is their best original series; which isn't saying much. Kevin Spacey is really good, but I'm pretty sure you can see his performance in "Richard III" so there's that.

Anybody watching True Detective?

 

[tissandtully]

One final question before I call it a Spirited night, but anyone have first-hand knowledge of what the crowds are like at WDW (and/or UNI and/or SWO) on this holiday weekend?

Went to MK and DAK today MK was packed, I'd say an 8 out of 10. DAK as well, it was open till 9 though! I wish that park was open at night more, it's so beautiful, such a shame most people don't get to see it. Oh, Everest had over an hour wait around 8 PM.

 

[wogwog]

One final question before I call it a Spirited night, but anyone have first-hand knowledge of what the crowds are like at WDW (and/or UNI and/or SWO) on this holiday weekend?

Staffing like they expect 60 at MK Sun Mon. 8A to 1A

 

[Lee]

Not really. Orange is the New Black is their best original series; which isn't saying much. Kevin Spacey is really good, but I'm pretty sure you can see his performance in "Richard III" so there's that.

Anybody watching True Detective?

I'm enjoying True Detective, though I'm disappointed that last week's show didn't follow through with the awesome visuals that ended the previous episode.

I'm two episodes from the end of Season 1 of House of Cards. Just watched 11 chapters in 24 hours. Blown away by it. Simply amazing.
It reminds me so much of The Wire.

 

[Magenta Panther]

You can be 100% sure that UNI outsells Disney on Marvel merchandise by a HUGE margin. Disney tried selling it in WDW parks and that didn't last long. Hell, the stuff sat at the outlet stores at 30-70% off pricing. Now, I only see it at 2-3 locales at DD. ... And UNI is making a bundle on selling it at its resort. Again, only fanbois think UNI gives a damn where the royalty/licensing checks wind up. The reality of the business is they don't.

Might be yet another example of guests at Disney parks wanting DISNEY merch and attractions. Not Marvel. Not Star Wars and not Muppets - because, in truth, the general public STILL doesn't consider those things a part of Disney. You talk about Marvel stuff not selling well in the parks - the one dedicated Muppet store at DHS is mostly full of Mickey stuff - because that's the stuff there that actually sells well, I imagine.

 

[ThemeParkJunkee]

You and I may not like what they build, and think they didn't get their money's worth, but from behind a spreadsheet TWDC just poured the better part of a billion dollars into MK construction.

The Fantasyland Forest, Circusland, Rapunzel area, bus station, pathways in he hub, Town Square and the River area. A new parade. All on top of large refurbs at most of their headline attractions, from Splash and Thunder to lesser gods like Tiki and the Bears.


WS in the past year or so has seen great investment in Mexico, Morroco and France. Italy the year before. They may not be the rides we hope for, and be ruinous theme and view destroying foodfest tents, but they are big investments nevertheless.


Jimmy Thick is right. TWDC is investing heavily in its parks. Just not for rides, or even brick and mortar, but for operational and exploitation reasons. Their long term effects remain to be seen. Sadly I would not bet at WDW following a losing strategy. They may lose us a customer, but for every one of us there are two Cariocas and Porteños standing ready, with multiple the disposable income of us first world tax paying middle class.

You and WDW 1974 seem to have read the "fluff" included in the Walt Disney Company 2013 Annual report which is sitting next to me as I type. It came in today's mail. Yes, I still get paper copies. Never have so many been duped by so few when it comes to the "Parks and Resorts" division. They begin the management representation with the Florida parks, touting the Fantasyland expansion as "doubling the size of the previous land". They go on to describe Epcot as it exists and has existed for about 15 years..then they describe the Studios in similar fashion. They end with touting the announcement of bringing Avatar and nighttime entertainment to Animal Kingdom. Almost every positive report is located in Studio Entertainment section and acquisitions of intellectual properties and the production of "Frozen".

Fortunately in the required "risk assessment" portion, they list all circumstances beyond their control including "competition" to cover any contingencies. They also mention hurricanes and terrorist attacks so...all bases covered.

Yes, I own Disney Stock. I am first and foremost a person who loves to travel and I love theme parks. I also own Comcast stock, so no favorites. I buy and hold and generally don't pay a bit of attention to these annual reports. I feel that now, I should...Interesting change. As a public service...I also own Starbucks stock...

I know I am a relative newbie here...hope I am not wasting your time...

 

[Gabe1]

Might be yet another example of guests at Disney parks wanting DISNEY merch and attractions. Not Marvel. Not Star Wars and not Muppets - because, in truth, the general public STILL doesn't consider those things a part of Disney. You talk about Marvel stuff not selling well in the parks - the one dedicated Muppet store at DHS is mostly full of Mickey stuff - because that's the stuff there that actually sells well, I imagine.

Much like I cannot relate Disney to Avatar. Maybe in 2017 but not just yet.

 

[marni1971]

exploitation reasons..

Nailed it.

And that is not something to celebrate.

3 new restaurants would be wonderful if there were three new attractions to match.

 

[maxairmike]

You and I may not like what they build, and think they didn't get their money's worth, but from behind a spreadsheet TWDC just poured the better part of a billion dollars into MK construction.

The Fantasyland Forest, Circusland, Rapunzel area, bus station, pathways in he hub, Town Square and the River area. A new parade. All on top of large refurbs at most of their headline attractions, from Splash and Thunder to lesser gods like Tiki and the Bears.


WS in the past year or so has seen great investment in Mexico, Morroco and France. Italy the year before. They may not be the rides we hope for, and be ruinous theme and view destroying foodfest tents, but they are big investments nevertheless.


Jimmy Thick is right. TWDC is investing heavily in its parks. Just not for rides, or even brick and mortar, but for operational and exploitation reasons. Their long term effects remain to be seen. Sadly I would not bet at WDW following a losing strategy. They may lose us a customer, but for every one of us there are two Cariocas and Porteños standing ready, with multiple the disposable income of us first world tax paying middle class.

You do realize that 75% of the emphasized were not done by choice, right? In order: SQS issues that would have had management from the 90s and earlier having heart attacks, serious structural issues that needed to be addressed ASAP, and a fire that created a toasty Iago for the Tiki-gods' dinner. The Bears were cut down and barely spruced up from what I can tell, maybe a half-hearted cleaning and fixing things that should be fixed more regularly (see Splash Mountain). Beyond that, Space got a much cut-down refurb (no new tracks, there goes the majority of the refurb's cost).

Sure, on a spreadsheet it looks like a lot of spending, but maybe it would be a bit less if they would actually allow a bit more in the budget for what should be able to be fixed and abated by regular, routine maintenance. A bunch of suits who have no care or knowledge of what it takes to run a park should not be indirectly dictating the spending and investment on said parks, and that's exactly what we have with this Wall St. quarter to quarter, year-to-year mindset that only cares about maximizing dividends, share price, and bonuses. That the folks at the top of the company also have little care for the parks side of things doesn't help.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Good question (seriously). I go back and forth on this. I know they feel they can't add many at MK. That's why it has become a concrete jungle that resembles a typical central Florida outlet mall. It's why planters disappear overnight, why walkways keep taking any greenspace away etc.

At the same time, the other three parks can easily fit in many more millions a year. But Disney is simply trying to shift more MK guests instead of attracting new ones.

MK really needs big expansion in order to handle current crowds, let alone any increase. Problem for Disney is many folks are starting to think it is the only WDW park worth visiting.

What Disney wants are more hotel guests.

WDW has well over 5,000 empty rooms nearly every night. For some perspective, even with the opening of Cabana Bay, Universal will have 4,200 rooms in total.

Last quarter, Disney hotel guests spent an extra $278 per room night. That's money spent at the hotel, including the room.

Multiply that by 365 days and Disney is sitting on over $500M of potential revenue annually, which is nearly all profit.

Anyone who thinks Disney is happy with its current number of empty hotel rooms simply hasn't done the math.

 

[ParentsOf4]

What Wall Street wants is to know when, where and how Disney expects the two billion dollar NGE boondoggle to pay off both now and down the line ... the questions that Bob Iger either can't or won't (my guess is a little of both) answer.

Big "yes" to this one.

Wall Street has been questioning MyMagic+ every chance they get.

Repeatedly.

Let’s see if anyone can answer these questions from the last 5 straight earnings calls. I know I can’t after listening to Iger’s and Rasulo’s replies.

February 5, 2013: “On the parks, I guess it was mostly cost-related. Could you clarify on the technology spend -- or MyMagic+ or however you want to refer to it -- how much more to go is -- the press reported it's something like $800 million to $1 billion of spend on that effort. How much more is there to go?”

May 7, 2013: “Bob, if you could talk about the timing of the rollout of My Magic Plus. Is there any way to give us a sense of the potential impact from that initiative? It's not the easiest thing for us to model.”

May 7, 2013: “Perhaps then, Bob, just in terms of timeframe, would that be something where by fiscal 2014 you would think we start to see some impact?”

August 6, 2013: “You didn't mention MyMagic+. Any comment on how that's impacting business at this point?”

November 7, 2013: “And just a follow-up question on the domestic parks. I think in the past, you've sort of called out some incremental expense that we may see in different initiatives. I guess is there something incremental we should look out for in fiscal 2014? I guess, where are you on the spending around Magic+? And then on Magic+ when we might see, I guess, some signs or data points of how it's impacting the business?”

February 5, 2014: “Then for Bob, you guys had talked about the cost of MyMagic+ this quarter, but can you give us some indications of how the rollout's going on revenue and customer behavior, because per capita is really good at this point, so what's going on with MyMagic+?"

February 5, 2014: “Then just my second question on MyMagic+, I know you said the benefit of guest satisfaction, but there must be some benefit to revenue to be able to put a device button, get out of the store, run to doors quickly. Is it showing up in the per cap revenues? On the cost side, how much more is there to go? How much more it is there to go now?”​

Wall Street is asking the same basic question again and again because Iger and Rasulo are not giving satisfactory answers.

You think we are the only ones questioning the wisdom of MyMagic+?

Wall Street is with us on this one.

Big time.

 

[SJFPKT]

I have never and will never consume a grotesque turkey leg. And I am not a huge fan of Dole Whip unless I am having it on the Dole Plantation on Oahu (they have different toppings and flavors etc as well as a nicer setting!)

I must say that one of my favorite parts of a trip to Hawaii is the side stop to the Dole Plantation. You can't beat a fresh pineapple. I don't eat pineapple anywhere but there. It was the first place I ever tasted it at the age of 7. I tired it when I got home and it wasn't even comparable.

 

[RSoxNo1]

DISNEY WILL NEVER GET THE RIGHTS TO USE MARVEL CHARACTERS IN FLORIDA. THE ONLY WAY THEY COULD IS IF THEY PAY COMCAST'S RIDICULOUS ASKING PRICE WHICH WOULD BE VERY FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE. THEY GET A CUT OF WHAT MARVEL SUPERHERO ISLAND PRESENTLY MAKES PLUS CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGATED NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING OF THE MARVEL IPs.

END. OF. STORY.

More accurately: Disney will never get the right to use Marvel Characters in Florida because they have no motivation to build new attractions in Florida unless it is absolutely necessary. To add on an expenditure that could cost anywhere between $800 million - $2.5 billion for something that in itself wouldn't produce a single new attraction seems like something only a fiscally irresponsible company would consider.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I can see why you (or others) would say MK is better than in 2005. I basically agree ... but it's a lot worse than it was in 1985 or 1995. That's what I see ... and I'd much rather simply be at EPCOT or DAK walking around. They have ambiance while MK remains a mass market caricature of DL. And EVERY MK out there from Anaheim to HK to Paris to Tokyo feels more park-like than O-Town's does.

Still, I get where you are coming from. But I have an AP. I'd never pay for a day ticket to any WDW park today. None.

I have said for a while that MK and DHS are attraction driven, while DAK and Epcot are ambiance driven.

 

[StageFrenzy]

What Disney wants is more hotel guests.

WDW has well over 5,000 empty rooms nearly every night. For some perspective, even with the opening of Cabana Beach, Universal will have 4,200 rooms in total.

Last quarter, Disney hotel guests spent an extra $278 per room night. That's money spent at the hotel, including the room.

Multiply that by 365 days and Disney is sitting on over $500M of potential revenue annually, which is nearly all profit.

Anyone who thinks Disney is happy with its current number of empty hotel rooms simply hasn't done the math.

Obviously with that amount of cash left on the table they need some type of RFID rapidfill program.

 

[themarchhare]

Jimmy Thick is right.

lol

 

[TalkingHead]

One final question before I call it a Spirited night, but anyone have first-hand knowledge of what the crowds are like at WDW (and/or UNI and/or SWO) on this holiday weekend?

I spent Saturday at IOA and would say the park felt crowded. Wait times weren't too astronomical. Ollivander's and Hulk were about 45 minutes, FJ and Spidey about 60. There were, however, big crowds to navigate as you walked around the park.

I will say that when we went to our 11:30 reservation at Mythos, there were already people waiting for a table and the restaurant was pretty full.

After riding Despicable Me first thing (60-80 min wait), we avoided USF. I'm betting things got much busier there in the afternoon with the Mardi Gras concert that evening.