Originally Posted By leemac <<It's unbelievable how neglected the parks have been over the past several years.>> WDW Co. is a hotelier with theme parks. That has been the mantra for a long time now.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<That isn't fully the point though. CBJ offered capacity - the alternative was either shutter it (and lose the capacity), rewrite the show or replace it. Attendance is important but ultimately it is about capacity. If your park is full of attractions that are all the latest hot E-Ticket it would be a disaster - guests would be sat in City Hall all day long. MK could have done a lot more to encourage guests to experience CBJ but they chose not to do so. It is in a high traffic location (unlike DL's version) and it would take little to put together skits outside that would encourage viewership. There is just no invention. Instead someone in Ops puts together an exist survey that says "would you like the show to be shorter" which prompts a response rather than "is the show the right length?" which I guarantee wasn't asked. Those exit surveys exist solely to back up management's POV on a matter. They aren't social science in action. >> Right, you're not telling me something I don't already know haha. They've been speeding up Mansion for years trying to combat this as well. I was just trying to point out that this wasn't a change because the people demanded it/weren't seeing the show.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I'm not suggesting to bring in Chuck Lorre but there are a lot of very talented writers out there that would love to have their material featured in an attraction. It would keep it fresh and updated." I'm thinking Bruce Vilanch. Seriously.
Originally Posted By leemac <<I'm thinking Bruce Vilanch. Seriously.>> I'd call Bill Prady immediately (co-create of The Big Bang Theory). Bill wrote Muppetvision 3D and HISTA - and is an unabashed Disney fanatic. I'd love to see him back writing for the parks again.
Originally Posted By leemac <<At least we might get Cars or Avatar in the next few years. (Will either be open before 2015?)>> Cars Land is likely to be coming to D-MGM - however it probably won't break ground until the next fiscal year at the earliest (FY'14 which starts next October 1). I'm less bullish about Avatar - I'm not sure we will ever see it at DAK. The clash of egos and cultures between WDI and Lightstorm is causing a lot of headaches at the moment.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper ^^^^Basically backs up what I've heard about both those situations, though I thought land clearing for Cars Land would be happening sooner than that.
Originally Posted By leobloom If they start moving land Oct 2013, then probably Summer 2015 for the opening of Cars Land and Monsters Inc Coaster? Wow -- I don't know -- three more years with WDW only getting 7D Mine Train in the meantime? What the *bleep* is going on there? I don't see FLE holding interest for that long.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<If they start moving land Oct 2013, then probably Summer 2015 for the opening of Cars Land and Monsters Inc Coaster?>> Considering WDW's track record with construction, I'd say that's a very, very generous time frame. If it doesn't break ground until October 2013, I'm not seeing it open until 2016.
Originally Posted By leobloom I don't get it, Hokie. There were the reports that TDO was worried and concerned that Uni was bringing in the big guns. But if 2016 is when they expect to unleash their "answer," I gotta wonder what the playing field will look like by then. That's definitely after the Potter expansion opens...and who knows what Uni will be moving on to after that.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper If it is 2016 (and if leemac's timeline is correct, which I have no reason to doubt) Universal will have opened the following since the last big project was complete at WDW: Transformers Gringotts Bank Coaster Hogwarts Express Simpsons Area Redo Seuss Addition Possible JP addition FFL replacement Water park (maybe) And at that time they'll probably be starting the KidZone redo. Crazy to think about.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 <<Seriously, I think changing up the show seasonally would be a big help.>> This. Why don't they bring back the seasonal overlays like they used to have. Switching out the main show during the summer with Vacation Hoedown, and the holiday show at Christmas couldn't possibly cost them that much to do. Heck - they could even work it into their stupid "Limited Time Magic" promotion for next year. "Come see Vacation Hoedown - for a Limited Time. And don't forget your Camp Country Bears Tee Shirt!"
Originally Posted By leemac <<There were the reports that TDO was worried>> Who's worried? In the last quarter WDW Co. grew revenue on all segments - tickets, F&B, merchandise and hotel spend. Attendance slipped but the additional KPI growth overcompensated for that. TDO isn't worried about anything.
Originally Posted By leobloom Allegedly, the push for Cars Land at DHS was motivated by TDO's concern/worry over the stale product they shill and the realization that Cars is a huge home run at DCA. I believe one of the numbers that has been quoted as evidence of WDW's bad times is the hotel occupancy stat that was relatively low this summer. Do you happen to know if hotels were at their normal summer levels this year?
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I agree. Leemac, why has the MK abandoned the Christmas overlay? It would seem to be a great way to get people into the theater and would be the only overlay that the MK does compared to Disneylands Haunted Mansion and Small World overlays.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "TDO isn't worried about anything." Pretty much what I've assumed despite all the foreboding doom and gloom from some fans. Disney would be silly not to keep a watchful eye on Universal, but I often get the impression that the wringing of hands at TDO described by online fans is purely imaginary. Slightly off-topic.... I don't believe that the continued growth of Orlando as an ever expanding theme park mecca can be maintained until eternity. Everything has a limit and the region jumped the shark on theme park thrills, water parks, cheesy strip malls, generic convention hotels, tacky chain restaurants, and poor planning somewhere between the time Blizzard Beach and IOA opened. Outside of a couple of the higher end Disney or Universal hotels, I can't imagine vacationing in Orlando.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom To some extent Orlando has no choice but to expand. They are competing with the likes of Los Vegas and such popular vacation spots such as Hawaii for peoples vacation dollars. When you have cities like Atlanta with a billion dollars being spent construction of hotels, and an aquirium. Orlando has to at least match those expenses to keep pace. Lets face it, technology wise Orlando sucks when it comes to cell phone access and internet access. And the restaurants in Orlando are generic, anywhere USA chain restaurants. I can't think of any restaurant in Orlando that stands out. Again, Orlando has no choice but to keep pace with other cities competing for peoples vacation dollars. And other than the theme parks Orlando doesn't have another draw.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 Orlando has many fine restaurants. The thing is they are not in the tourist areas. They are located in our neighborhoods where restaurant owners are offering wonderful food options.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "They are competing with the likes of Los Vegas..." You do know that Vegas has been floundering for the past 4-5 years, right?
Originally Posted By leemac <<Do you happen to know if hotels were at their normal summer levels this year?>> We won't find out until November 8 - July 1-September 30 will then be discussed along with the full year results. Visit Orlando publishes non-Disney hotel statistics - occupancy rates and revPAR and they saw a soft summer on i-Drive and in Kissimmee.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Disney would be silly not to keep a watchful eye on Universal, but I often get the impression that the wringing of hands at TDO described by online fans is purely imaginary.>> It is about fans that just don't understand the economics involved. WDW is a hotel operator - it has more than 27,000 rooms that are owned and operated - and more than 33,000 in total. Uni has a grand total of......2,400 across three resorts. Each All Star Resort has more rooms than that. Uni has been on an upward tick since Potter - that is undeniable - but it has had little impact on WDW at present. It would take a quantum step change by Uni to have an impact.
