Originally Posted By u k fan That seems a shame, but thankfully there are lots of great offsite hotels to stay in that are quite a bit cheaper. That said I've been pricing up a few options recently (albeit using discounts and promotions) and have been pleasantly surprised at how affordable some of the rates are. I guess as theme park fans, perhaps our sense of priority is out?!!!
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>That seems a shame, but thankfully there are lots of great offsite hotels to stay in that are quite a bit cheaper. That said I've been pricing up a few options recently (albeit using discounts and promotions) and have been pleasantly surprised at how affordable some of the rates are. I guess as theme park fans, perhaps our sense of priority is out?!!!<<< Usually we always stayed in a Disney hotel, but in 2013 we didn't get a room and so we got an Annual Pass and stayed off site. That was so much cheaper than staying at a Disney hotel. We went to DLP twice for the same amount of money than in recent years for one stay at a Disney hotel. The rates in Austria are crazy for Disney hotels. So we tried to book via Ireland, they have the same rates like the UK, but it is easier for us due to the Euro. Unfortunately we didn't get a room as I mentioned above. When you consider the quality of the Disney hotels (prior to the refurbs), th prices are just insane.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros When I visited a couple years ago, the prices were insane compared to what you could find nearby. I guess there's some convenience of being right by the parks, but for me, it wasn't enough of a difference to justify 2-3 times the cost, especially for a solo traveler I fear that this financial report will be mirrored in WDW. The hotels there have always been fairly expensive, but the prices have skyrocketed in recent years with no noticeable increase in quality. One of the main reasons I sill go with them is because my group usually has different flight times at the airport, and DME is the only way that we can get everybody to the hotel without spending all of our time or money on transportation
Originally Posted By u k fan Yeah, as I said it's very dear compared to staying offsite, but if you can catch a promotion (which I know not everyone can), you can get some better value deals. It is true that you are paying premium prices for non-premium lodgings though. Our last stay at NBC was definitely not worth the rack rate!!!
Originally Posted By dagobert @ Leemac Just in case you are reading this, I want to ask you a question. Do you know if DLP is shifting its advertisement more towards Germany? I'm asking, because recently many DLP posters showed up at travel agencies and suddenly we are also getting TV adds on the new free tv Disney Channel for the resort. The last time I have seen a TV add was for the 20th anniversary. Is that because of the continuing economic problems in DLP's main markets?
Originally Posted By dagobert Here are the new DLP TV spots. Big Yet Small: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP89q92HOYA&feature=youtu.be">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...youtu.be</a> Magical Answers: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPrlL_MpTRo">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...lL_MpTRo</a>
Originally Posted By u k fan They're good adverts. They tug at the heartstrings and target families with different aged kids. An advert for adults would be good too. Disney certainly knows how to advertise to parents well, who can resist?!!!
Originally Posted By dagobert Today ED SCA helds the annual shareholder meeting at Cinemagique in WDSP. Here are some informations taken from the offical DLP and Mousekingdom Twitter accounts: - Over €510 million invested over 5 years in the refurbishment of our parks and hotels and in the development of our destination - Spending per guest at DLP up 4% in parks and 6% in hotels - 7% less visitors at DLP (crisis impact) - Market rise for DLP expected and worked on WITH extra marketing are UK, Germany and middle east
Originally Posted By dagobert And the final concept art: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/DisneylandParis/status/433514276435681280/photo/1">http://twitter.com/DisneylandP.../photo/1</a>
Originally Posted By dagobert To all who are interested, here's the Annual Review: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://annualreview.disneylandparis.com/2013/">http://annualreview.disneyland...om/2013/</a> And a new concept art of the new Lego Store that's going to open in DV. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/DLRPToday/status/433565814466154497/photo/1">http://twitter.com/DLRPToday/s.../photo/1</a>
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Over €510 million invested over 5 years in the refurbishment of our parks and hotels and in the development of our destination" That's a huge sum of money to basically keep people coming back. Maybe in the long term it'll pay off, but can't see how it will given how challenged they've been to turn a profit.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>That's a huge sum of money to basically keep people coming back. Maybe in the long term it'll pay off, but can't see how it will given how challenged they've been to turn a profit.<<< I think the financial restructuring two years ago made a lot of money available. In addition the interest rate was reduced and that added also some money. The refurbs have to be done, especially in the hotels, because the quality was really bad. I'm glad ED SCA keeps this way and continues to improve the hotels. Currently the Newport Bay Club Hotel is undergoing a massive refurbishment. All rooms will be chnaged to new ones. In addition MS USA will also undergo a huge refurb. As far as I know many wooden parts will be changed to artificial ones, That helps to reduce the refurbs on Main Street since wood isn't that durable, especially in the Paris weather.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I wonder how much of that money will go toward the hotels, and how much will be for the parks. It sounds like a lot of money, but with the extensive work they're doing at multiple hotels I'm worried that the parks won't see too much of it And I'll never understand why they made so much of Main Street out of wood. To my knowledge, the other Main Streets were built with man-made products and looked just fine. If they wanted to have exposed wood grain it might make sense, but for painted trim they really should have just gone straight to the synthetics
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>And I'll never understand why they made so much of Main Street out of wood. To my knowledge, the other Main Streets were built with man-made products and looked just fine. If they wanted to have exposed wood grain it might make sense, but for painted trim they really should have just gone straight to the synthetics<<< Because WDI though that Europeans wouldn't like to see artificial buildings. That's why WDI used so many "real" stones and woods. Another reason why the resort became so expensive to build. Except for the street itself, I couln't see so much difference between DLP's and WDW's MS USA. DLP's cobblestone pavement looks so much nicer than the concrete one found at WDW. I'm glad DLP uses cobblestones now for Fantasyland as well. >>>I wonder how much of that money will go toward the hotels, and how much will be for the parks. It sounds like a lot of money, but with the extensive work they're doing at multiple hotels I'm worried that the parks won't see too much of it.<<< I guess more money is used for the hotels. However Indy is getting attention as well. This year we will get Ratatouille, but I'm still hoping for new rides added during the following years. I can't see that happening with the bad financial numbers.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Because WDI though that Europeans wouldn't like to see artificial buildings. That's why WDI used so many "real" stones and woods.<< I guess that makes sense, and I'm a big supporter of making things high-quality, but this seems like an instance where it just doesn't make a difference. In Frontierland, where the wood is exposed, it looks great; on Main Street where it's all painted they should have known better. Then again, the real wood and stone are part of what give the park such a great texture that you don't find at the other parks (it's at TDS and MK's Fantasyland expansion), so I guess it does make some intangible difference
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>I guess that makes sense, and I'm a big supporter of making things high-quality, but this seems like an instance where it just doesn't make a difference. In Frontierland, where the wood is exposed, it looks great; on Main Street where it's all painted they should have known better. <<< As I mentioned before, I didn't see any difference between the two MS in Florida and Paris. In both parks the buildings look fine and "real". So I guess there was no reason for using wood. >>>Then again, the real wood and stone are part of what give the park such a great texture that you don't find at the other parks (it's at TDS and MK's Fantasyland expansion), so I guess it does make some intangible difference<<< I can only compare the MK with DLP, since I haven't visited other resorts yet. Despite DLP's maintenance problems, DLP's Magic Kingdom style park is more beautiful than its counterpart in Florida. In addition to the "real" stone and wood, the age of the parks plays in important role as well. And at DLP WDI wasn't limited with money, since MDE approved a huge budget for the park.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros ^^MK and DLP are probably at the 2 ends of the spectrum. To me, DLP has a lot of detail and texture that really adds a lot, while MK just feels very big and plastic. You can tell that the crew that designed and built DLP knew what they were doing, and had the resources to make it happen
Originally Posted By u k fan Agreed, MK seems so impersonal for a DL style park. Wide expanses of concrete are not a good look!!!
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt >>>That's a huge sum of money to basically keep people coming back. Maybe in the long term it'll pay off, but can't see how it will given how challenged they've been to turn a profit.<<< "I think the financial restructuring two years ago made a lot of money available. In addition the interest rate was reduced and that added also some money." They still have to pay it back, and given how much is owed.... well, I have to wonder if the place will ever be profitable in my lifetime.
Originally Posted By dagobert Today the Lego Store in Disney Village opened its gates. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/InsideDLParis/status/439329132758200320/photo/1">http://twitter.com/InsideDLPar.../photo/1</a> <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/InsideDLParis/status/439329487516614656/photo/1">http://twitter.com/InsideDLPar.../photo/1</a> <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/InsideDLParis/status/439329731230838784/photo/1">http://twitter.com/InsideDLPar.../photo/1</a>
