truecoat
Well-Known Member
Um, you can count me out of this one.
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Why Disneyland’s $1 billion Star Wars land isn’t a bust despite flat attendance - OCR/SCNG
- Thread starter Darkbeer1
- Start date
Um, you can count me out of this one.
el_super
Well-Known Member
Yeah but that was explained by the expenses incurred for the opening (training, previews, media events etc). After that the margins went right back up right? And if I remember right, for the year they were way up.
No. Again the whole point of investing in a theme park is making your money back. Typically you can do that through higher volume (more people) or higher prices. Even if Disney thought originally they would increase revenue via volume, they clearly changed their mind and went the route of increasing ticket prices.
That should increase margins if well executed. Instead, we saw a contraction in margins. Bob Iger endlessly brags about Disney’s ROI and Margins. Going to Iger with an investment idea that would not result in strong margins growth (or even a contraction) is an anathema. Galaxy’s Edge did not move Domestic Parks significantly, and likely even caused a contraction. Both @WDW Pro and MiceChat confirmed cuts were made to counter rising costs.
Lower margins at the parks isn’t always a bad thing. In some cases it means guests are getting better bang for their buck. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if Disney decided to up quality and capacity for a few percentage points of margins. But was that what Disney was trying to do with Galaxy’s Edge? No, and any suggestion to the contrary is wrong.
Disney has always spent money to combat the perception that the parks are too crowded. Adding capacity to to increase guest value (and the price people are willing to pay for a ticket) is completely in line with other actions they have historically taken.
It's not really up in the air at all. They took actions to reduce the demand on the park thru increased ticket prices, reduction in AP benefits and implementation of the reservation system. Revenues and profits increased considerably. Hotel occupancy was up. Per Room Guest Spending was up. Overall per capita guest spending was up. They had a pretty good year.
If you want to go by the TEA numbers, 2019 was tied for the highest attended year in Disneyland history. It was not a weak year by any stretch of the imagination.
el_super
Well-Known Member
There's definitely something to be noted about this. It's a wise strategy to hold back some expansion plans for a new area, rather than spending so much to open fully built out, and having no where to go but down.
It doesn't take any inside knowledge to know that they will continue to add to Star Wars Land and expand the concept as they need to. They will eventually add more characters, and I even think they will end up adding the original trilogy characters when they are finally ready to demolish Tomorrowland.
el_super
Well-Known Member
I kinda like the idea of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: Presented by El Super, but I don't think the style guide would allow for that many colons.
chadwpalm
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
It's interesting that the new series coming out (The Bad Batch) is in the same time period as The Mandalorian. Probably coincidence. There's been no indication of them changing the time period which is 30 years after those 2 series.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
That's another good example of how they planned for massive crowds that never showed up, but now in 2020 are pretending they never did any such thing.
There's also the example of building the Pixar Pals parking structure in a panic for 2019. Even before they closed for Covid they ended up with way too much parking for what they needed. And it's going to be years before they'll need all that parking again.
But sure, that was the plan all along! They built Pixar Pals just for the fun of it.
That PIxar Pals/Mickey and Friend parking structure is awesome, but when I go I park in the area nearby and walk a half mile, save 25 bucks. I think that parking structure has sold out a few times, but no many...its like 16000 spaces so if it does sell out that like 350,000 dollars in parking revenue. But regardless I think its a great investment, though I wish the eastern gateway project had happened instead, with the skybridge and then giving CA a nice expansion in the process. Maybe they will still do that in the future though
Anjin
Well-Known Member
After following all the arguments in this thread, I finally sat down and read the article. My verdict: this article is stupid as hell. I don't get why the writer subscribes to some grand re-writing of history. This was not some masterplan to drive down attendance. The article even eludes to the real goal which was to manipule attendance.
If there is any valid take away from all this arguing, it's that we need to stop talking about driving up attendance as an end goal for Disney. Disney's primary goal is to drive profits. Increased attendance can be a means to that goal, but it's not the goal in itself.
If there is any valid take away from all this arguing, it's that we need to stop talking about driving up attendance as an end goal for Disney. Disney's primary goal is to drive profits. Increased attendance can be a means to that goal, but it's not the goal in itself.
George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
Before Coronavirus, I didn't think I'd ever see a bigger disaster than Titanic in IMAX 3D or Bed, Bath and Beyond's website...then I saw Galaxy Edge.
Screamface
Well-Known Member
And there's going to be how many series set in the Mando's timeline? At least three? There's no way they're sticking to the non-story of the sequels. It'll all just slide away without quietly. The whole appeal of the aesthetic of the original surely hasn't gone unnoticed. Why else are we getting a Cassian Andor series? There's even the suggestion Alden Ehrenreich will reprise the role of Han Solo in something.
It would be fascinating to know what Star Wars people are watching on Disney+, that's surely got to be influencing the decisions going forward. For me personally, Solo and Rogue One are the only Disney Star Wars films I will ever regularly rewatch. Whenever they announce what the new Star Wars film is about, will surely give us a massive indication of where they will take GE and Star Wars in the future.
If you were making decisions, what direction would you go, Broom Boy the movie, or Bothan Spies?
You look at the First Order troopers, the banners at GE and it just looks off. There has been 40 years of the public consciousness seeping in Star Wars iconography, slightly different designs, less iconic will always look off. It's the same issue Star Trek has, the new stuff just doesn't look Star Trek and so they're trying to reintroduce designs closer to what people associate with the brand.
George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
Star Trek ended in 2005. I'm not sure what you're referring to?
Screamface
Well-Known Member
George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
I don't see anything. It must not exist.
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST
Well-Known Member
Rodenberry is turning in his grave
chadwpalm
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Truer words have never been said.
MoonRakerSCM
Well-Known Member
*COUGH* I may be in this photo...
TP2000
Well-Known Member
That was the original business plan, once upon a time. Check back in 2023. Or 2025.
You couldn't have said it better. The article is stupid as hell, and it's a re-writing of history.
That's all there is to it.
Phroobar
Well-Known Member
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Not sure this mostly speculative news deserves its own thread, so might as well put it here...
Apparently there's a new Star Wars video game or something set on Batuu that has a few new restaurants and bars in Black Spire Outpost, the most notable being a second "cantina" placed right next door to Oga's.
www.ocregister.com
"The new Batuu bar in Galaxy’s Edge is called Seezelslak’s Cantina, run by a six-eyed Star Wars alien with a tendency for over-imbibing and a love-hate relationship with porgs.
Concept art for the “Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge” VR experience shows Seezelslak’s Cantina located next door to Oga’s Cantina. An open window in Seezelslak’s Cantina shows the distinctive Tuggs Grub food truck-like starship docked atop the Docking Bay 7 restaurant with Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities gift shop in the foreground, according to the concept art."
Again, all purely speculative at this point, and if it were to happen it wouldn't open for at least a couple years from now.
Most notable thing in the backstory is that the owner is a drunk. I wonder if HR knows?
Apparently there's a new Star Wars video game or something set on Batuu that has a few new restaurants and bars in Black Spire Outpost, the most notable being a second "cantina" placed right next door to Oga's.
Is another Star Wars cantina coming to Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge?
The new Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge virtual reality experience introduces new locations and characters in Black Spire Outpost on the Star Wars planet of Batuu, the setting for the 14-ac…
www.ocregister.com
"The new Batuu bar in Galaxy’s Edge is called Seezelslak’s Cantina, run by a six-eyed Star Wars alien with a tendency for over-imbibing and a love-hate relationship with porgs.
Concept art for the “Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge” VR experience shows Seezelslak’s Cantina located next door to Oga’s Cantina. An open window in Seezelslak’s Cantina shows the distinctive Tuggs Grub food truck-like starship docked atop the Docking Bay 7 restaurant with Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities gift shop in the foreground, according to the concept art."
Again, all purely speculative at this point, and if it were to happen it wouldn't open for at least a couple years from now.
Most notable thing in the backstory is that the owner is a drunk. I wonder if HR knows?