Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<But I seem to remember driving as being fairly civil business in HK during my time there.>> Thats because in Hong Kong the drivers have the right away. Hong Kong has the highest jay walking fines of any country in the world. Not to mention the highest deportation tax of any country in the world while I was there in the 1980s. It was still under British control, but by UK friends still insist that I can't say I have been on British soil.
Originally Posted By dshyates I agree with DAR, in that America doesn't have a traffic problem and putting all this money into infrastructure is stupid. I live .6 of a mile from where I worked and it only took me 3 mins. at the most. And in town at THE intersection I really have to wait for more than 2 cars. Maybe someday will will need a traffic signal. So its obvious to ME that we don't need to waste all this money on crap like roads. Right, DAR? I mean commuter trains? Thats plumb crazy talk, we don't need no stinking light rail. And who needs high speed rail when we have such a great air travel system. Seriously all I have to do from WV is drive the 4 hours to Charlotte, spend 2 hours in security lines, then catch a flight on to Orlando. So if I fly it takes me about 8 hours to get there, that saves me 2.5 hours over driving all the way from WV. Oh, yeah, well I could take a flight out of Charleston, WV. But for some reason, it jumps the ticket price up to over $600/pp when I can get a flight round trip from Charlotte for about $300/pp. So for me to fly from Charlotte is cost me about $900 for the 3 of us, and I save 2.5 hours and get there without transportation, so I have to rent a car. See our system is fine.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<*apparatchiks* Had to look that one up. >> I used to have a Russian coworker.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> When we were in Indonesia and the Philippines locals had the custom of squeezing an extra lane of traffic out of thoroughfares. Besides even without traffic our rental Toyota Innova/Revo could barely push 90km/h (think 50mph) << >> But your Revo even at 50 mph max speed could not have been the limiting factor........ the atrocious roads would have been since anything over 40 mph would be too bumpy or perilous. Besides you never knew when a street vendor, blind person, stray dog or child beggar would suddenly appear in the middle of the roadway/blvd/ave/hwy, right? << Back in the days when the exchange rate was 4 to 1, give me 20 pesos, and a Jeepney. There's no such thing as rush hour then. The sidewalks are much smoother than the roads anyway.
Originally Posted By dshyates Back to the 5th park thing. I think that maybe Disney is finding that single attractions, even big ones like Everest aren't big attendance drivers. I wouldn't be surprised if they go for the 5th park and just freshening the existing parks.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<I think that maybe Disney is finding that single attractions, even big ones like Everest aren't big attendance drivers.>> How much more attendance can WDW support? I still think that opening another park (in the long run) would only draw numbers away from the other parks, and not grow the numbers much beyond where they already are.
Originally Posted By Disneyday I believe that each new park can add up to 8 million more guests. Disney is also pushing the 7 day stay to keep their hotel occupancy up. At the same time, they are adding new hotels like Four Seasons. For those who think that they have a choice to either add to the existing parks or add a new park, I believe they can do both - and then some. This is a company that made 30 billion dollars this last year on merchandising alone.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<I believe that each new park can add up to 8 million more guests>> How do you figure?
Originally Posted By Mr X "It was still under British control, but by UK friends still insist that I can't say I have been on British soil." By the same token, I feel as though I can't really tell people "I've been to China", since I was "only" in Hong Kong (and Macau).
Originally Posted By jkayjs I'm just wondering who's going to man this 5th park(if it's @ WDW). Maybe it's going to be completely automated void of any human CMs. Right now as we speak they don't have enough folks to get the job done. They have made cuts here & there already. They have been short on actual living breathing CMs for sometime even before the current economic climate. So I'm not sure that 5 yrs will remedy that. I know this topic has been discussed repeatedly with threads that reached astronomical #s. We'll see how this one goes altho I see it has already been highjacked by Canadians & Cubans. In fact I believe a discussion on 20 lanes of traffic has more posts so far than the original topic. Have a great day all.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I'm just wondering who's going to man this 5th park(if it's @ WDW). Maybe it's going to be completely automated void of any human CMs. Right now as we speak they don't have enough folks to get the job done. They have made cuts here & there already. They have been short on actual living breathing CMs for sometime even before the current economic climate. So I'm not sure that 5 yrs will remedy that. I know this topic has been discussed repeatedly with threads that reached astronomical #s. >> Yeah ... this thread comes back on you more than a bad Disney burger. I know the folks who run the place aren't all that smart ... common sense might be stretching things a tad ... but I really don't think Bob Iger is a stupid man. A fifth theme park would be akin to suicide. ~5000=The Dow's new 8500~
Originally Posted By Disneyday IF this rumor is true. I'm sure that the Disney bean counters have done their research. I would guess that they assume that they need something really big to put heads in beds at their hotels. Since WDW attendance has been flat the last few years, (even before the worst of the recession), they may believe that a major new attraction at existing parks won't make enough of a wave. - Another note, the blogger who broke the news mentioned today that the theme is not set in stone, but that he can confirm that it will not be a Villains theme.
Originally Posted By MPierce Alright, anybody that thinks there is really a 5th gate in the wind raise your right hand. ANYBODY?
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<Since WDW attendance has been flat the last few years, (even before the worst of the recession), they may believe that a major new attraction at existing parks won't make enough of a wave>> JMHO, a new park is not going to suddenly make WDW more popular by the millions. People who are predisposed to visiting Disney pretty much go there regardless. Not saying there aren't new visitors all the time, but in all likelihood a new park is not what gets those customers to book a trip. What will get more heads in their beds is 1.) offering a one-of-a-kind quality experience, 2.) offering value for the money, and 3.) a good economy.
Originally Posted By Indigo I hate to rain on the parade, but I don't think a fifth park will accomplish the goal of increasing attendance and filling rooms. No matter how much I want one. In fact, the whole question of adding a fifth gate or not is the wrong one. What Disney needs to be figuring out is how to not just maintain, but grow, its position at the head of the family travel and entertainment market. My personal opinion is that this requires Disney parks to regain some sense of vision of waht it means to be not just a leader in the industry, but a leader in changing opinions of people around the world. As it turns out Disney parks have a brand suited pretty well to do just that. No, it's not EPCOT, although it has a role, it's Disney's Animal Kingdom. That's the only other park that unites the world under one umbrella and its particularly suited to be showcase for the one movement that is uniting the world right now, sustainability (aka green). Then, if it has the marketshare, it can leverage that into a fifth gate. But it's not an "if you build it they will come" industry these days.
Originally Posted By Disneyday The site is called JULY171955.com. The blogger is named Matt Hart. You can ask him questions about it on the Discussion Board there.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 I totally agree with Indigo. It really all comes down to vision (and quality and creativity run hand in hand with that) ... and I just don't see any coming out of TDO at all. I've been doing some clutter removal of late and have (re)discovered some of my old Disney stuff from the 70s, 80s and 90s ... it's amazing but you really can tell the difference in quality just by looking at things like brochures, postcards, menus. Anyone who doesn't think WDW has become all about toons and timeshares and marketing the DISNEY MAGIC ought to come take a look at my historical perspective. From around 1995 onward Disney has been steadily trending down overall in O-town, even while certain aspects have improved or ebbed and flowed. You can't have vision when you refuse to open your eyes and see the reality.
