Toy Story Land expansion announced for Disney's Hollywood Studios

[ptaylor]

So, just a little aside. We’re staying at the YC right now and apparently that’s where Disney has all the bloggers staying as well. They have table set up for all the media with some pretty cool swag - a Toy Story Land backpack, keychain in the shape of a letter block, and some folder with what I’m assuming are the taking points. It’s funny when I walked by the table the CMs were very friendly and then after I told them I want media they were like “what are you doing here?” Just going to my room. Rubbed me the wrong way just a little.View attachment 292797

Yep that is how it works. The guests pay $500 a night, $100 to get into the park, and will wait 5 hours for a 2minute ride come Saturday. Some irrelevant bloggers with a few thousand followers get flown across the country, stay in a deluxe resort, red carpet treatment. And for extra fun, they rub it in your faces.

 

[marni1971]

I actually think the rides look solid. It’s the finishing touches that complete a land that are missing. Bare minimum, they’ll have to deal with the lack of shade.

Hopefully once the foliage takes root (!) around the coaster it’ll look a little more lush.

 

[flynnibus]

Bad planning on Disney's part if they have that table right out where all guests and folk walking through can see and ask questions about it. No guest should ever be made to feel neglected or as though they're not special enough. Just not Disney.

Well it is on the second level... so only guests moving to rooms on that level would pass it.

 

[tissandtully]

So, just a little aside. We’re staying at the YC right now and apparently that’s where Disney has all the bloggers staying as well. They have table set up for all the media with some pretty cool swag - a Toy Story Land backpack, keychain in the shape of a letter block, and some folder with what I’m assuming are the taking points. It’s funny when I walked by the table the CMs were very friendly and then after I told them I want media they were like “what are you doing here?” Just going to my room. Rubbed me the wrong way just a little.View attachment 292797

That's funny cause the people they're flying in aren't media either.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It seems that if they were to tell you they were going to have surprise soft openings, it wouldn't be a surprise now would it.

It seems that soft openings...which in the past were considerable....are gone...

Gee...I do wonder why??

 

[JenniferS]

It seems that soft openings...which in the past were considerable....are gone...

Gee...I do wonder why??

Right. ‘Cause being down to the wire time-wise had nothing to do with it.

Just a week or two ago, many of us were wondering if Disney was even going to meet the 6/30 opening date - and now y’all are bemoaning the lack of soft openings.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Hot take - see TSL at night. Seeing it during the day is like riding RnRC or Space Mountain with the work lights on.



Nope, I'm there with you. There's certainly some cute decorative touches around the land but otherwise... eh. When a good portion of a land's general "theming" seems to come from over sized string lights and poles made to look like Tinkertoy, that might be an indication said land is short on actual substance.

Slinky looks slower than I thought it would be, especially the second half (there's barely enough momentum to get over the second launch hill). And the theming basically disappears after the second launch; there's no blocks or props or characters or anything until you get to Wheezy. The "wind up" backwards bit for the second launch is cute, though it would have been better in an enclosed tube so that that little surprise isn't spoiled as you wait in line. Plus, then you'd always see the lighting effects on the second launch; during the day they're completely invisible.

The Saucers are fine I guess, but again, riding during the day means the lighting effects lose their impact. And the stationary claw is a cop out - it should really open/close and move up and down during the ride.

The lunch counter seems woefully undersized (only 2 registers and ~25 tables?) and is going to be completely overwhelmed on all but the least busy days. The same goes for those two little merchandise carts. Losing Sweet Spells over on Sunset Blvd. to try to "make up" for this land's lack of store space only adds insult.

On the plus side, the new TS(M)M queue looks nice, and it's great to see Mr. Potato Head back!

The highlight is a queue they don’t want you to stand in, huh?

...this is depressing...and goes against my new policy of trying NOT to prejudge.

But we all knew this was gonna be cheap..it sounds very Chester and Hester...and does nothing to address ride capacity - a problem they don’t seem to consider a problem.

 

[smile]

It seems that soft openings...which in the past were considerable....are gone...

Gee...I do wonder why??

see that lovely little prod for the pier made it's way all across the country and into a nyt article?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Right. ‘Cause being down to the wire time-wise had nothing to do with it.

Just a week or two ago, many of us were wondering if Disney was even going to meet the 6/30 opening date - and now y’all are bemoaning the lack of soft openings.

Well there’s that too...but when they have a crew of 4 working at times 2 years out...you get what you didn’t pay for...

But I was more thinking I would bet their labor is being shaved due to fastpass + and they couldn’t actually staff a soft opening without it.

Those $9.50 hours add up

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

see that lovely little prod for the pier made it's way all across the country and into a nyt article?

...no...do share...

 

[Gabe1]

I've never had one, nor do I know exactly how much they cost (and I'm to lazy to look it up) but, it seems to me that the major perk of an AP is admission. Let's use the $900.00 figure that was tossed out there. If that is the one without any blackout dates then that $900.00 will entitle you to go to one or more Disney Parks on 365 days in your year. That translates to $2.50 per day. That seems like a good plan. I know that most will not go that often, but, even if you went 20 times in a year that is $45. per visit. Where else can you get that price? Then you get discounts on purchases along with free parking and I'm sure other things that I am not aware of, it seems like you got your moneys worth many times over. Now you want special preview perks because you spend less per visit then almost everyone else on the planet does. That does seem a little overly entitled to me.

I’ve had better use out of this years annual pass then others. For multiple reasons I’ve found myself in the Orlando area multiple times this year. My pass is less than $900 renewed but for argument sake 65 days puts me at about $15 a day. No I wouldn’t have gone to the parks all those days if I didn’t have an AP for a couple hours but I can’t say I didn’t get my value out of it. My pass is 13 months too. Timing. Perks I use is discounts on parties, some food, merchandise and at times good AP room only discounts. There are others that I’ll likely not use.

 

[smile]

...no...do share...

pardon, wsj

https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-tests-pricing-power-at-theme-parks-1529331115

 

[Missing20K]

The company, however, is wary of appearing to gouge customers, according to theme-park executives and analysts, and going against founder Walt Disney’s vision of affordable family entertainment.

They are? Could have fooled me.

 

[JenniferS]

Well there’s that too...but when they have a crew of 4 working at times 2 years out...you get what you didn’t pay for...

But I was more thinking I would bet their labor is being shaved due to fastpass + and they couldn’t actually staff a soft opening without it.

Those $9.50 hours add up

I honestly wonder why half of the people here belong to a group called wdwmagic.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

pardon, wsj

https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-tests-pricing-power-at-theme-parks-1529331115

They identified the problem (the price rise)...they said how disney is gonna exploit it (more price increases)...and they said what’s happened - 70% of gouges since 2013...

But everything else is utter crap. This $299 is yet another in an unending probe of how much people will pay for upsells...repackaged normal pieces of operating days. Nothing to do with crowd control.

Nothing to see here.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

They are? Could have fooled me.

I wish I would have had beer before I read that...so I could watch the “lager shower”

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I honestly wonder why half of the people here belong to a group called wdwmagic.

And I wonder why adults promote nonsense and ignore trends and issues that affect consumers?...

Are we done?

 

[wdwmagic]

Please stay on topic guys, thanks!

 

[Gabe1]

Yes. There was no upcharge to see Pandora previewed, nor RoL, nor TSL. WDW does however do a lot of special access tours and hard ticket events, but not for previews.

DL/DCA did one night upcharge for Mission Breakout and one night for Pixar Pier.

So..... charging for previews really isn't a thing that Disney does, and even then, only in Anaheim, and even then, only one night.

So far.

And this answered the rumor question I posed to you yesterday

Yikes

https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-tests-pricing-power-at-theme-parks-1529331115

 

[Goofyernmost]

It seems that soft openings...which in the past were considerable....are gone...

Gee...I do wonder why??

One of the main things as part of the argument that is being used all the time. The new attractions are tried and true. There is no proving them or using massive voices to critique them. They are simple, the timing is easy to at least start to figure out and the soft openings are not necessary, not to mention, as said by others, it still had a few things to finish up that the public didn't need to focus in on and they have probably simply run out of time. I'd like to have what they have spent on PR for this place. I could live quite comfortably on that number. They started pushing this land quite a long time ago, they had to be done by the 30th. Sometimes it probably just isn't needed, besides there are a whole lot fewer that get to participate in the Soft Opening then are not going to be able too. Logic would say that unless they are testing something, it is better to not have it at all.