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View Full Version : Al's 'blockbuster' view from the Matt!



Doodle Duck
10-23-2003, 06:09 AM
SoCal Cruises! Whodathunk?

merlinjones
10-23-2003, 06:21 AM
I could care less about the cruise ship, but I'm seriously concerned about the submarines.

Doodle Duck
10-23-2003, 08:21 AM
Yeah...me too...I emailed Al to have that update online soon as he could...that that's where the comments will be aimed at and where our 'heart' is.

sleepyjeff
10-23-2003, 08:29 AM
Originally posted by merlinjones
I could care less about the cruise ship, but I'm seriously concerned about the submarines.

Me too. I did not like the statement that we will never see the subs again:crying:

I know I am just a simpleton from the Great North West....but if Walt Disney could turn part of an Orange grove into a Submarine Voyage back in 1959(ten years before we put a man on the moon), why can't the current regime, in the 21st century , turn the Submarine Voayage into the Submarine Voyage....

I guess I am just too dumb to get it:confused: :confused:

Guest_Control
10-23-2003, 09:47 AM
I'm excited about the prospect of a SoCal cruise. It seems like an obvious progression of the existing cruise line, and it will help bring more tourists into the Disneyland Resort.

merlinjones
10-23-2003, 09:34 PM
I promise never to set foot on that ship unless they fix the submarines first.

Polar33
10-23-2003, 10:09 PM
Is anyone other than me impressed at what Al reports is planned for the 50th annaversary announcement press event? If they are going to do all that for a press event I feal a lot safer in thinking that the actual 50th celebration will be spectacular as well.

Although I'm not too impressed about the title "Disney's Golden Celebration" when in fact it is Disneyland's Golden Celebration. The company just had a major milestone celebration and they turned their back on Disneyland...I think that this time Disneyland needs to do the same.

Also...I feal safe in predicting that everyone here will never want to see the color gold ever again after this celebration is over. I know I won't.

BJW
10-24-2003, 08:50 AM
Originally posted by Guest_Control
I'm excited about the prospect of a SoCal cruise. It seems like an obvious progression of the existing cruise line, and it will help bring more tourists into the Disneyland Resort.
Yes, but this is exactly what we don't need right now, more tourists. With fewer and fewer attractions all the time there is not enough right now for the current crowds to do. Weekdays are seeing 45 min. waits on attractions that 10 years ago had 10-15 min. waits on weekdays. Instead of adding a cruise line they should work on improving the parks. Get the current attraction roster repaired, add entertainment, and some new rides. Then more crowds and a cruise line could be a natural progresson. In Disneyland's current state, I shudder to think what adding more people to the current crowds would do.

tracilicious
10-24-2003, 09:21 AM
Originally posted by sleepyjeff
Me too. I did not like the statement that we will never see the subs again:crying:

of course not! if it were a statement that didn't cause discontent, it wouldn't be in Al's update! :rolleyes:

sediment
10-24-2003, 10:50 AM
Originally posted by BJW
Yes, but this is exactly what we don't need right now, more tourists. With fewer and fewer attractions all the time there is not enough right now for the current crowds to do. Weekdays are seeing 45 min. waits on attractions that 10 years ago had 10-15 min. waits on weekdays. Instead of adding a cruise line they should work on improving the parks. Get the current attraction roster repaired, add entertainment, and some new rides. Then more crowds and a cruise line could be a natural progresson. In Disneyland's current state, I shudder to think what adding more people to the current crowds would do.

Well, lowering the number of APer's in the park would allow for more paying customers, which would then allow Disney to increase Disneyland's budget.

Doodle Duck
10-24-2003, 11:27 AM
"...... which would then allow Disney to increase Disneyland's budget."


Yeah...that'll happen....AFTER the Archeologists arrive to dig the place out in 4024. Hang in there....

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_831657.html?menu=news.latestheadlines

tracilicious
10-24-2003, 12:12 PM
Originally posted by sediment
Well, lowering the number of APer's in the park would allow for more paying customers, which would then allow Disney to increase Disneyland's budget.

why would lowering the number of AP's allow for more paying customers? last i checked, disney isn't turning people away at the gate because they don't have AP's.

Doodle Duck
10-24-2003, 12:20 PM
traci: This involves math from Kevin's column on Mice Age.

Not out of the question but unlikely the Diz would funnel dough anyplace other than ME's personal bin. A history lesson we've been taught.

Mr. Wiggins
10-24-2003, 12:35 PM
>>...unlikely the Diz would funnel dough anyplace other than ME's personal bin. A history lesson we've been taught.<<

Sorry, folks, DD is right. From theme parks to film production, SOP at WDC is to siphon funds from areas of profit -- and even from those who are simply on budget -- and use them to shore up other areas of failure in the company. It's how any single "heroin monkey," be it DCA, Go.com or a bad film, eventually winds up riding everybody's backs.

It's appearing more and more that the healthiest thing for the future of Disneyland will be to sell it to another company. Give the imagineers a chance to do what Lassiter & Co. have done after they got out from under WDC management, namely, create a show that wows the audience. But that's for another thread....

merlinjones
10-24-2003, 12:44 PM
What is all this insane bather all over the net about "the need" to decrease attendance at Disneyland? Who is behind this ridiculous spin?

FastPass was specifically designed to get people out of queues and into the streets. If you want the streets clear, just get rid of fastpass and open more rides, don't chase off the people!

Turning DL into an elite playground only for the rich will not force them to reinvest in the attractions. As Wiggins said, standard proceedure at WDC has been to cut back further when the profit margins are the highest.

Beware, folks. There are those feeding a load of horse manure on the net lately to justify/pave the way for some disastrous sharp pencil-driven changes.

Did you see the Facilitator's trial balloon article at Jim Hill on SmartCards for admission? Someone at Imagineering is pitching the foul concept of having like a phone card where you charge off your value of rides during the day, then have to pay for more credits if you run out. Unlike the ticket books that had a controlled number of A-E tickets, which encouraged you to see all levels of attractions, this would be a free-for-all to maximize "shelf space profit per sqaure foot". It would surely result in only the most popular rides seeming to be worth reinvestment (or your precious credits), allowing them to close the rest (and downgrade the remaining stuff that sells anyway - like Disney Store product).

Scary. Whatever happened to building something worth seeing?

Disneyland is your land - - take it back!

NirvanaMan
10-24-2003, 04:11 PM
What you guys talking bout?

cstephens
10-24-2003, 04:52 PM
Originally posted by NirvanaMan
What you guys talking bout?

They're talking about this article (http://www.miceage.com/allutz/al102303a.htm).

stevemo
10-24-2003, 05:51 PM
Good take on the smartcard, MJ. While reading the article I couldn't figure out how this Disney ATM card would increase traffic at the smaller ticket attractions, but it certainly would make it easier and faster to part people from their money at merchandise locations. It's not unlike the Vegas "Chip" model: it's not really money, just plastic chips, or in the case of the smartcard, credits. If a family were to run their entire Disney vacation through the smartcard, it would also allow Disney the opportunity to "tailor" their marketing effort to the exact "need" of said family. Wouldn't this be...nice?

It would be interesting to see a cost analysis of all the overhead involved with the ticket book system vs. that of the fastpass system.

NirvanaMan
10-24-2003, 06:50 PM
Originally posted by cstephens
They're talking about this article (http://www.miceage.com/allutz/al102303a.htm).

Thanks!

BJW
10-25-2003, 09:40 PM
Originally posted by merlinjones

Beware, folks. There are those feeding a load of horse manure on the net lately to justify/pave the way for some disastrous sharp pencil-driven changes.


Merlin, ths is interesting. I was just thinking a couple of days ago when I was on Miceage, Mouseplanet, and these boards about the possibilities that Disney would somehow learn how to manipulate these boards/websites to their "advantage." While I don't believe the sites/boards themeselves would be in on something like this maybe some of the sources/posters are really moles. It would be interesting to see where the source of some of these rumors are. (ie AP elimination, smartcard, etc.) Maybe they just want to see what we all think. In my opinion this is pretty scary when you think about it. If they can desensitize us enough we'll accept these changes.

sleepyjeff
10-25-2003, 10:15 PM
Originally posted by BJW
While I don't believe the sites/boards themeselves would be in on something like this maybe some of the sources/posters are really moles. It would be interesting to see where the source of some of these rumors are. (ie AP elimination, smartcard, etc.) Maybe they just want to see what we all think. In my opinion this is pretty scary when you think about it.



So, which one of us is the "Celebrity Mole";)

MonorailMan
10-26-2003, 03:09 AM
Originally posted by BJW
If they can desensitize us enough we'll accept these changes.

Humm, sounds like a good movie plot.... ;) :D

merlinjones
10-26-2003, 06:53 AM
I think most major corporations have online facilitators looking out for their interests, posing as geeks, etc. So far, if there >are< fabulous Disney moles around, they been spectacularly unsuccessful and not worth their pay.

But you can definitely see the consistent typical facilitator techniques around. Repeated specific talking points, approval/disapproval of posters, emotional manipulation, personal attacks to diffuse interesting threads, flame wars, bullying and "leaked/insider" information as trial balloons. I'll bet there is much more of this going on than anyone realizes. Think of what happened to alt.disney.disneyland - - it's now basically useless for open discourse.

After awhile, you can always tell the tone and interests of a true Disney fan who takes this stuff to heart. Their interests are generally not the same as the corporate at all.

But when fans start blaming other fans and trying to coerce them into acceptance of bottom-line finance schemes, something is fishy in Eric's Kingdom (and I don't mean Ariel).

Somewhere on the net, a "fan" just called the AP system "Disney Welfare" in a scolding tone. This is a fan's perspective when those tickets cost hundreds of dollars? Gotta wonder what some of these folks are thinking... ;)

BJW
10-26-2003, 12:59 PM
Originally posted by MonorailMan
Humm, sounds like a good movie plot.... ;) :D
Yeah, it looks like Mousepad has it's own version of the X-Files.
I just read the Smartcard article Merlinjones was referring to. I agree, how could anyone actually be for this? The money paid at the front gate is supposed to cover the cost of the attractions. As someone mentioned elsewhere on the boards, if they want to know how much profit an attraction generates for the park they can check turnstile counts. This will tell them how the $47 per person is being allocated throughout the park. This smartcard system is just an underhanded attempt to jack-up admission prices without people realizing it. Also, how does she believe this will make the parks less crowded? Now more people than ever will be in the pathways when they run out of credits. I think people should boycott this program and that cruise ship until Disney decides to address the real heart of the problem: the deteriorating attractions and the lack of new attractions.