Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub As a dedicated customer I would be most happy with keeping Disney Vintage and Classic. They should also keep EPCOT as a land that invites all cultures to explore the goal of peace and harmony. Future construction should be focused on that to make me want to visit more. Unfortunately it is NOT happening. I think the imagineers can still find a way to make money without turning everything into a cartoon or a commercial package that screams for your money.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub SO WDW "competes" in the Florida market by accepting Universal and the other tourist attractions as part of the big package. Since they know 5 days out of 6 gives them the advantage over the tourist's money arriving in town. Did they have to be so obvious about appealing to the kiddie market tho? Just looking at the pictures I see some incredibly beautiful things and then some scary(gargoyles) and then gaudy (circus). All mashed into one area. Just seems strange like a crazy dream.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Since they know 5 days out of 6 gives them the advantage over the tourist's money arriving in town. >> Sorta. WDW Co. would much rather have you staying on-property with a package - so if you choose to spend a few days off-property then it doesn't matter - they get revenue off of you no matter what you do. Potter may be a success for IoA but ultimately it doesn't move the needle - it is just one experience. Now if Uni start to build out their resorts and add new E-Tickets and other parks like Sea World start to compete actively then it could be a whole different ball game. WDW Co. is still trading off the investment made through to '98. If Eisner hadn't been so willing to write multi-billion dollar checks over that time then the swampland would be a very different place to play.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Until Universal builds moderate and value priced resorts they will never attract the number of families with young children to stay on-property that WDW does. The Universal resorts are beautiful, but they are all deluxe resorts with prices reflecting that. Most young families on a budget will stay at one of WDW's resorts and spend $30 on a cab to Universal.
Originally Posted By leemac ^^ I think Cabana Bay is supposed to be moderate/value in its proposition. I don't know what agreement Uni has with Loews Corp. for the ownership and operation of their hotels but I would have thought that Uni would like to get into the hotel game themselves. I can only guess that there is an exclusivity arrangement otherwise this new fourth hotel would not have been a Loews owned and operated property. Cabana Bay is going to be reasonably large at 1,800 units. Not as big as an All Star Resort though.
Originally Posted By leemac <<I don't know what agreement Uni has with Loews Corp. for the ownership and operation of their hotels>> I do know - no idea why I posted that. Loews own 50%, Uni owns 25% and Hard Rock's owners (Seminole tribe) own 25%. I believe the 4th hotel is just a 50/50 venture between Loews and Uni. I'm still surprised Uni didn't go with a plain vanilla operating agreement for the new hotel though.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I find the Universal resort hotels to be far superior than the Disney resorts and I pay a lot less to stay there. Our experience at Royal Pacific was better than our several experiences at the Poly and we paid half the price.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 <<Ultimately FLE hits the MK mission statement on every pledge - it is designed for families with young kids. That is the target audience for MK these days and so the whole thing works.>> This makes me sad. What happened to designing their parks for ALL people visiting. Why must the MK now be limited to "people with young kids"? Just because WDW has four theme parks doesn't mean they have to specialize each one to a certain demographic. Why does one have to be the kiddy park, one the thrill park, etc? Why can't they all appeal to all age groups?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "What happened to designing their parks for ALL people visiting." Those days are long gone, I'm sorry to say.
Originally Posted By leemac <<This makes me sad. What happened to designing their parks for ALL people visiting.>> Cos the mission statement says so! Former CFO Hunt and Chairman Rasulo thought that each park in WDW needed a mission statement to guide all future development. They are all fairly broad but there are some specific guidelines - I doubt whether we will ever see something like Alien Encounter inside the MK ever again.
Originally Posted By Doobie <<< I doubt whether we will ever see something like Alien Encounter inside the MK ever again. >>> Then something good comes out of it.
Originally Posted By leemac ^^^ Ha! You meanie. There are plenty of us that loved Alien Encounter. It was definitely an anomaly - Michael was a little too high on the collaboration with Lucas which is why that one sneaked into MK.
Originally Posted By leemac And I think I'd take Alien Encounter back over SGE any day....and this is coming from a massive Lilo & Stitch fan!
Originally Posted By leemac LOL. You are in the majority I think. If that happens I want first dibs on the Stitch AA. He'd look awesome in my den. I could have him belching veggie chilli dogs for me. )
Originally Posted By leobloom What's the problem with Alien Encounter? WDW hasn't added anything that innovative in 15+ years.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 <<There are plenty of us that loved Alien Encounter.>> Count me as one of them! Yes, it was a little scary for children, but it was something they could "grow-into" - like Pirates, Mansion, and Space Mountain. Today's Disney would never have green-lit those attractions for the Magic Kingdom - I'm sure they would have been deemed "too intense" for kids. It's ridiculous that they've strayed so far from their original "mission statement" of making attractions for all age groups - not just little kids.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Cos the mission statement says so!" From the looks of things they must be using the same statement for DL too.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "What's the problem with Alien Encounter? WDW hasn't added anything that innovative in 15+ years." Ha. No kidding.
Originally Posted By leemac <<What's the problem with Alien Encounter?>> It didn't fit the mission statement so was jettisoned. Too violent and scary for the stroller brigade. I'd personally have preferred them to tone down AE rather than toonify the attraction with Stitch.
