Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Some of us remember when the MK didn't have a motto, perse ... because the whole place was The Vacation Kingdom of the World.
Originally Posted By ChiMike ^^ Yep tis the motto. To help differentiate the two they did give MK "The most magical place in the world" since the happiest motto was thrown around a lot. I could care less about any of the mottos. Nowadays it's all marketing dreck. Heck, Disneyland IS Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom.
Originally Posted By Park Hopper >>Nowadays it's all marketing dreck.<< Absoulutly. That's why none of the MK mottos stay around very long. "Where the Magic Lives," was created for a merchandise line. It was on T shirts and candy tins for a while but it has since dissapeared. They need to come up with something classic that they stick with and use to promote the park.
Originally Posted By kpwdwfan Where do you think the state of Disney parks would be without the new promotions every year. I'm willing to bet that attendance would be way down post 9/11.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^At some point, people catch on when all you have is slick marketing with no substance. Everyone likes to talk about what 9/11 did to tourism in general and WDW in particular, but want to know something? By fall 2000, WDW was already mired in a MAJOR attendence freefall (the Spirit even saw documents stating this that floated into his sphere of existence) that kept getting worse right on thru 2001 until the attacks completely devastated it. Why? Simple. Because WDW's Millennium Celebration was largely GREAT marketing with little substance. And when people had visited and it was already Y2K, guess what? WDW had nothing new on the table to offer. As a matter of fact, Disney was on a major cost-cutting incentive that resulted in quality and upkeep taking major slides. So the bottom line here is that in the theme park business you need to reinvest in your product. At some point (like when you change the music and name of a lame five-year-old parade) you just can't fool even the smart tourists. People catch on. The MK needs a new E-Ticket or two and 1-2 minor attractions. That's what will bring people back. The Year of a Million (Oops, we changed the name because 'insignificant' Internet posters were making too much fun of us giving away churros, popcorn and Coke) Free Pins and Lanyards ain't going to do it.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Hey Spirit!! Congratulate me! You are no longer the last LPer to get a DLP AP.
Originally Posted By kpwdwfan Well if attendance is up Disney can justify continuing these lame year long promotions and continue not to reinvest in the parks. Remember, its all about the money not the magic. In my humble opinion, the Magic Kingdom does need another "E" ticket attraction and don't even get me started on MGM. Enough with the playgrounds already!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Hey Spirit!! Congratulate me! You are no longer the last LPer to get a DLP AP. >> Congrats, buddy. But I still think we're even size wise (no jokes from the peanut or any other gallery). We have TDLFAN with APs for WDW, TDL and DLP. And the Spirit blows in with APs for WDW, DL and DLP. I would say we're still pretty even because the WDW and DLP cancel each other and I'll still put DL up against TDL (at least until I get there) if only because it's the original. Although TDS, likely pushes things in your favor as far as quality. I'll be paying DL a visit on Monday, if I can recover from the Emmys Sunday (and requisite parties) afterward. If not, Tuesday.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Hey Spirit, are you going to the Emmy's? I'm just across the street from the Shrine. If you want to meet up, my email is in my profile.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^Yeah, dude, I am. I'd love to meet up, but I have family/business obligations that will prevent that. I had the nominees party last night at the Pacific Design Center. I have a party now that I SHOULD be getting ready for instead of writing about TWDC. And tomorrow is obviously out with the Emmys, Governors Ball and party circuit. If I can get up by 3 p.m. Monday I might go to DL ;-)
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Turns out that I have to be in Burbank anyway. I hope you have a good time, and I'm looking foreward to hearing about it.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>We have TDLFAN with APs for WDW, TDL and DLP.<< I actually also had an AP for DL in the late 90's as well, but I don't get to CA as often as I'd like to, primarily because I don't work domestic flights. Therefore I did not renew.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Turns out that I have to be in Burbank anyway. I hope you have a good time, and I'm looking foreward to hearing about it.>> I had a great time. I always do. Two quickees though: Barry Manilow is NOT a nice man. Julia Louis-Dreyfuss is a wonderful, gracious lady. And speaking of Burbank, poor Bob Iger, even when he wins, he loses. His parks division appears to be doing well, but has no direction at all now and I asked 10 CMs at DL about their new prez tonight and only ONE even had heard of him. True. Then, we have the riches of Pirates (which will hit a billion very shortly) and 'the disappointment' that is Cars, yet the studio head gets axed and hundreds of layoffs happen. And Sunday night, ABC walks away with two Emmys in very insignificant categories despite the fact they haven't had programming this good in a decade. Yeah, Bob probably isn't the Happiest Dude in Burbank right now! Hey Bob, you're only as good as the folks you hire. That's a lesson that your predecessor never figured out. You bought John Lasseter and that was a fine start ... what's next?
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I actually also had an AP for DL in the late 90's as well, but I don't get to CA as often as I'd like to, primarily because I don't work domestic flights. Therefore I did not renew.>> Excuses, excuses ...
Originally Posted By danyoung >Barry Manilow is NOT a nice man.< Give the guy a break. If I had to put off major hip surgery for a day to do a musical salute on international TV, I'd probably be pretty cranky, too. He's pretty well known throughout the industry as a gracious and friendly person. Bad night, I guess.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<He's pretty well known throughout the industry as a gracious and friendly person. Bad night, I guess.>> Actually, Dan, on this one you're way off. I can literally tell you loads of stories about the man and they aren't good. It's a shame because he's obviously very, very talented even if you aren't into his schmaltzy sound. BTW, as I exited DD in Anaheim tonight what was playing on the soundtrack? Manilow's 70s (or was it early 80s?) hit 'Even Now' ...I could not believe that. When did Disney decide Manilow was hip (no pun intended)?
