Originally Posted By sjhym333 Al Lutz has some interesting things to say this week concerning WDW. Including: That guest satisfaction surveys about the Fantasyland expansions are falling flat and not translating into any increase in attendance. That WDW resort reservations continue to be flat and there is concern. That Carsland will be built at the DHS with few changes from the DCA version with the exception of Luigi's Tires which will not be built there. To expect white collar layoffs on both coasts in the park with the brunt of it on the WDW end. I always take Al in stride. Just found it an interesting read. <a href="http://micechat.com/21154-hello/" target="_blank">http://micechat.com/21154-hello/</a>
Originally Posted By oc_dean >>That guest satisfaction surveys about the Fantasyland expansions are falling flat and not translating into any increase in attendance.<< When one looks at the overall picture to the renovated land .. the best it has to offer is 1 large scale attraction - Little Mermaid. With another one that won't be showing up till 2014. They gutted Snow White in favor of a meet and greet. A simple spinner is moved over .. with double capacity and a few "blingy" details to enjoy. What did they expect? They got "flat" responses .. from a "flat" renovation. If they want a HUGE response ... they know what they have to do! It's called going back to the "Walt" days when entertaining meant EXCEEDING guest expectation. Not - just barely meeting them.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I wonder if the response to the surveys is hindered by the fact that the area still looks like it is very much under construction. Yes, the Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast areas are open, but they butt up against a huge construction project; one that blocke the view of the actual attractions from the rest of FL. And the construction also physically separates that area from Storybook Circus, making it tough to just wander through the area, unless you make a concerted effort to do so. I imagine the whole area will be quite nice once it's complete, but right now it's just a mess. The new stuff is nice, but the area is anything but finished.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I think part of the problem is the hype doesn't match up with the reality. It really isn't a new Fantasyland which is what the ads say but one attraction, a meet and greet, a very busy restaurant and a small store and snack bar. With the exception of the Little Mermaid, the hourly capacity at everything else is low. And while it looks pretty it really doesn't deliver as well as it could. Even the Little Mermaid which I thought was cute, hasn't really impressed anyone I know who has seen it. Most everyone says the same thing I do...it's cute.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom It has only been a few weeks since that area has been open. And that entire area is still a construction zone. I would be more intrested in what the surveys had to say. Isn't this WDW slow season? Don't things start picking up after Valentine's Day? As for filling resort rooms, a lot of people are feeling the pinch. Everyone is nervous about spending any money especially on potentially expensive vacations. I wonder if the free Disney Dining Plan is available right now. Certainly schools are in session. All factors which effect filling resort rooms. Personally, I think it is too early to tell what impact the new Fantasyland expansion will untimately have. I would think some folks are waiting till the entire thing is finished.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>If they want a HUGE response ... they know what they have to do!<< But that costs money, and the mantra in Corporate America these days is to cut costs.
Originally Posted By leemac <<That guest satisfaction surveys about the Fantasyland expansions are falling flat and not translating into any increase in attendance.>> This is where Mr Lutz's contacts let him down - he should stick to the left coast. There has been no formal assessment of FLE's satisfaction amongst guests as the view has always been that it needs to be completed before that can be done reliably. Also FLE was never solely about increasing attendance - it was actually about increasing park capacity and improving guest satisfaction scores. WDW Co. is focusing on improving financial KPIs - guest spend, revPAR etc. Any increase in attendance is a happy by-product - however WDW Co. believes that they are close to saturation in terms of attendance and that the most important thing is to drive up margins and profitability - especially in the resorts that are still languishing in pre-9/11 numbers.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<I think part of the problem is the hype doesn't match up with the reality. It really isn't a new Fantasyland which is what the ads say but one attraction, a meet and greet, a very busy restaurant and a small store and snack bar. With the exception of the Little Mermaid, the hourly capacity at everything else is low. And while it looks pretty it really doesn't deliver as well as it could. Even the Little Mermaid which I thought was cute, hasn't really impressed anyone I know who has seen it. Most everyone says the same thing I do...it's cute.>> All which is probably true. BUT..... it is in my opinion better than what is has replaced. I know some folks are distressed to loose Mickey and Minnie's homes, but the new area looks ( in the pictures anyway ) a lot better now. The expanded train station with bathrooms was a nice plus. I always thought that area of the park was dark and scary at night. Haven't set foot in the MK to see if that is still true. But, I do think overall it works better with the rest of the MK with the plastic like buildings gone.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 My point is that the there is a disconnect between what Disney is promoting and what is actually there. Is it a nice addition. Yeah it is, but it isn't a new Fantasyland. It is a new attraction, a meet and greet, a store (which is small), a snack bar and a restaurant. I agree with leemac that the point of the expansion was never to bring more guests into the park, but to increase capacity. The Little Mermaid is a people eater but the rest are not. Be Our Guest has long lines to get in. The Belle meet and Greet is 45-60 min wait everyday and the line moves very slowly. I am not surprised that the surveys are coming back the way they are. Be Our Guest is getting great reviews but Little Mermaid is mostly a shrug from people. It is a cute attraction but that is about it. Even my friends in mgmt in the MK say the attraction is just ok. I am more interested in the idea of a Carsland at the DHS and the rumor that there are white collar layoffs coming to the parks. The last time that happened it was pretty ugly. If in fact hotel occupancy is soft and a cause of concern to mgmt, it will be interesting to see how they decide to deal with that issue. Is it because of the economy? Not sure, the parks seem busy all the time. Is it that Disney is getting too pricey? Again, I take Al with a grain of salt. Just thought it was a fun read.
Originally Posted By leemac <<If in fact hotel occupancy is soft and a cause of concern to mgmt, it will be interesting to see how they decide to deal with that issue. Is it because of the economy? Not sure, the parks seem busy all the time. Is it that Disney is getting too pricey?>> Occupancy rates are determined by total available room inventory so having all of the AoA open during the quarter didn't help (AoA's 1,984 rooms contributes c.6% of total inventory so a decline in occupancy of 4% isn't unusual). The key metric is that guest spend was up across the board at WDW - including revPAR - so it seems the increased nightly room rates isn't impacting the bottom line. Even if it was the manta of WDW Co. has been to drive up margins and profitability even if it impacts attendance. Q2 is up on last year but the Company didn't disclose what impact Easter has this year (this year Easter falls within Q2 whereas it was Q3 last year). Rasulo also said that forward bookings were strong. So why bother spending more money on attractions if guests are still coming, right?
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I was out at the MK a couple of weeks ago and actually thought the same thing. The park was packed and I thought why would you bother to build expensive attractions if people come anyway?
Originally Posted By leemac <<The park was packed and I thought why would you bother to build expensive attractions if people come anyway?>> Feel free to submit your resume to Iger at the end of the year when Tom leaves to become President of the Company. With that attitude you'll be a shoo-in for the role. )
Originally Posted By leemac <<I was out at the MK a couple of weeks ago>> Did you ride Mermaid? We've been told it has major operational issues and that Garner Holt's team have been on-site trying to fix the problems. Allegedly there have been days when virtually nothing in the Under The Sea showroom works.
Originally Posted By magic0214 As far as Carsland coming, if it doesn't happen, I would feel bittersweet. If this is suppose to take up the space currently holding LMA and BLT, I wouldn't mind since those are some ROUGH attractions, but the fact that is almost exactly the DCA version makes me angry. The worst thing to happen to the Parks division was the One Parks mentality. If they still wanted to do a huge Pixar land, they could use OTHER properties (I have always thought being able to eat at Harryhausens from Monsters Inc. would have been cool. Can you imagine Monstropolis?!) and not stick to the same thing everywhere. SO AGGRAVATING!
Originally Posted By oc_dean >>The park was packed and I thought why would you bother to build expensive attractions if people come anyway? << I guess it won't bother you ... if Disney announces - No new attractions for the next 30 years. You can enjoy the same old stale attractions well into mid century. Lets see how well that goes down with other paying guests.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Did you ride Mermaid?<< Yep, but we had to come back, since it was down when our FP time came up. When we first stopped by the ride, the line was rather long (>30min), so we decided to FP it; unbeknownst to us, the FPs for it are in front of PhilharMagic, with the Pooh FPs. That's logical. When our time arrived, we wandered back there, but it was temporarily down. On our third trip through the long dead-end to get there, we finally had a chance to ride it. Theoretically, FPs will soon be booked long in advance (rather than from a machine in the park) and the walkway will eventually connect through to the Storybook Circus area, but just getting to the ride was a generally difficult experience. I wonder why they're having the issues with the AAs. I don't remember DCA's version having any notable hiccups when it opened, and the figures for both attractions were built at the exact same time.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I have ridden Mermaid twice but the past two visits it has been down. I am also hearing that there are issues, which is amazing since it is an omnimover. Personally I don't care if Disney builds any new attractions. I am not renewing my AP in June anyway. The only thing that might get me out there for a day would be Carsland, though my guess is I will see it in CA before it gets build here.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<Feel free to submit your resume to Iger at the end of the year when Tom leaves to become President of the Company.>> Wait... did I miss something? Staggs is leaving P&R to become President of TWDC? And no idea who will replace him?
