Should Apple buy Disney?

[chartle]

1. What I've always thought is Disney should approach Apple about fixing the Imagination Pavillion. Disney could make that ride a star attraction again (for the first time) and then there could be an "Apple labs" showcasing all of Apple's forthcoming products, a window into getting people to try their Apple TV.

2. Full disclosure: Personally not a big fan of Apple. Anyone else find the irony in the fact that a company that first rose to fame on the back of advertising toting it as "breaking away from Big Brother" has now essentially BECOME Big Brother?Once you get hooked on Apple products, you can't get away, they only work with eachother. And I've yet to see any evidence that their products are superior to less expensive products. Sure, sleeker and sexier, but superior?

1. The issue I always see is how fast things happen these days. When they say lets showcase the tech of tomorrow its that by the time the exhibit its designed and built its obsolete. And this is for tech 6 months old.

2. Yes, I have thought this way for years. Everything Apple is proprietary where IBM compatible (that's they were called back in the day) Intel based computers were open source and for that reason won.

 

[mbrou24]

I'm an Apple fan but not necessarily sure I agree with that. Yes they do place a high priority on the user experience, but they unquestionably make you pay for what you get.

There's a reason you can get a decent Windows laptop for $300 while an entry level Macbook will set you back $1000. Prices on phones, tablets, MP3 players...pretty much everything across the board is higher than the competition. I can't see Apple pushing a philosophy of improved guest benefits for equal ticket prices.

Not that this has anything to do with apple buying Disney but can't we look at it this way, if you buy a windows computer for 300 plus taxes, plus antivirus.. And then antivirus renewals for the computer yearly going forward... Eventually the apple computer will cost you roughly the same amount because the lack of maintenance an apple computer really needs. You don't need antivirus on it. That saves. I suppose there are pros and cons to each tho. I'm just saying I see where they can say they offer a better user experience as I find their MacBooks to be 1000 times faster than my hp was. And to be able to last significantly longer on battery power. My favorite perk is the elimination of antivirus

 

[chartle]

Not that this has anything to do with apple buying Disney but can't we look at it this way, if you buy a windows computer for 300 plus taxes, plus antivirus.. And then antivirus renewals for the computer yearly going forward... Eventually the apple computer will cost you roughly the same amount because the lack of maintenance an apple computer really needs. You don't need antivirus on it. That saves. I suppose there are pros and cons to each tho. I'm just saying I see where they can say they offer a better user experience as I find their MacBooks to be 1000 times faster than my hp was. And to be able to last significantly longer on battery power. My favorite perk is the elimination of antivirus

This is not to be a "My computer can beat up your computer" reply buttttt...... you can always install AVG free or if you stick with a mac hope they don't gain any market share and become a bigger target for the scammers.

I'll be back on topic next post.

 

[jgh]

No.

If only for the reason that everything Apple does is SO overpriced. Ticket? That'll be $500, sir.

 

[chartle]

This question is kind of akin to why doesn't Disney buy its own airline. They could apply their wonderful management style and make air travel a pleasant experience again.

Well the big issue is that Disney has created for its self a very favorable business climate for its self in Florida. If it branched out into the wild wild west of deregulated airlines they would find a different world. One where airfare has become as undifferentiated as gasoline and the only thing people care about is low prices.

 

[CaptainBarbossa]

I can see it now:

Orlando Sentinel reports Breaking News: "Disney buses, working on their first day for new Apple supplied managers, full of anxious to get to the parks guests found themselves getting off the bus at the Kirkman Rd. entrance to Universal Studios this morning". "They told us they would not let us in. There must be some glitch in our Magic Band iOS that made them unreadable there", responded one of the wayward guests.

Don't know what the problem was said one bus driver, we were just following Apple Maps on our new Company issued iPhones and we ended up here. Apple CEO Tim Cook had no comment for the Sentinel reporter, but a spokesman for Walt Disney World did confirm that a call has been made to Google to see about using their map and direction Applications in the future.

In other Park news, it has been reported that Prince Charming was none too happy this morning when he found out he would now have to wear a black turtleneck in the Florida summer heat and humidity. In addition, it has been announced that "until further notice, all 2nd performances of the Main St. Electrical Parade have been cancelled until further notice". It seems that the upgrade to iOS 6.1 has shortened battery life and a second parade is not feasible as the floats had to be converted to "non-replaceable batteries" and sufficient capacity is not available to have 2 performances.

Stay tuned for further updates on these and other news items.

EXACTLY What I was thinking!
Except you forgot to put in the part about the new Disney park i-tickets being priced 100-200% more than the previous tickets due to them now having a picture of fruit branded on them

 

[11290]

EXACTLY What I was thinking!
Except you forgot to put in the part about the new Disney park i-tickets being priced 100-200% more than the previous tickets due to them now having a picture of fruit branded on them

Actually had a lot more but decided that discretion was the best.

Surprisingly, the new touch-pad "turnstiles" are somewhat "Applefied" (is that really a word?). Now in lieu of logging into the old style turnstile keypad with our ATS code & password and being able to see the ticket status on a nice size display & keypad, if we are assigned to a "V entry point" we have to go over, pickup an iPod Touch, login to it and then use it to see the ticket status, if there is an issue, when a guest scans their chip ticket. Not sure yet what we will be doing when the WiFi or system goes down. With the old system we went to a manual confirmation of ticket but that isn't possible with the new chip ticketing.

Went from a nice size screen that we could read easily to a small size display so now us older folks have to keep our glasses on during our assignment to actually see the icons when someones ticket does not scan properly or is not valid. In addition, we will now have to "hold" the Touch thruout our assignment (up to 2 hours or so). Can't even put it in our shirt pocket and just listen to the tones because guess what, no shirt pocket on our new costumes of a couple of years now. This is called progress.

 

[Faldred]

I'm an Apple fan but not necessarily sure I agree with that. Yes they do place a high priority on the user experience, but they unquestionably make you pay for what you get.

There's a reason you can get a decent Windows laptop for $300 while an entry level Macbook will set you back $1000. Prices on phones, tablets, MP3 players...pretty much everything across the board is higher than the competition. I can't see Apple pushing a philosophy of improved guest benefits for equal ticket prices.

It's not that Apple is "overpriced", it's that they don't compete in the commodity portion of the product space. But I think the argument can be made that Disney is already a "premium" experience; if you want a "commodity" vacation, you're going to your local or regional parks.

The laptop argument is bogus, too, because you're comparing completely different classes of machines (such as comparing Kennywood in Pittsburgh to WDW); compared to "ultrabooks" (a category inspired by the Macbook Air, by the way), the MacBook Air is priced and spec'd similarly, and likely has a lower TCO over time. And specs aren't everything, as in the end, it's usability and overall experience that matters.

What sets Apple apart from its competitors is its emphasis on human factors. Yes, that's often manifested as what looks like excessive control, but their market success lends a strong argument that it does work. And that's what a WDW vacation is all about -- the human factors. Immersion and consistency.

 

[SpacePlace]

Boy...somedays i think they should just shutdown the "rumors and news" board and replace it with "hypothetical without theoretical extrapolation"

That would be a great forum for me to finally post my secret findings that Disney has built a time-machine so that they can go back in time and find the perpetual energy machine they built earlier that was stolen by a guy in a bowler hat.

 

[SpacePlace]

No.

If only for the reason that everything Apple does is SO overpriced. Ticket? That'll be $500, sir.

But the bathrooms would be made completely out of that futuristic, glossy white material like all their computers and stores. And Siri could tell me what happened to all the toilet paper!

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I mean not to be a troll here but why in te world would Appple want to buy Disney. Sounds like a giant headache.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

And it seems that Apple is trying to move into the cable/tv provider area, which would be a major conflict.
I am not exactly sure what Apple plans to do in TV area but would be very supprised if it did not involve them providing content to you.

 

[SpacePlace]

And it seems that Apple is trying to move into the cable/tv provider area, which would be a major conflict.
I am not exactly sure what Apple plans to do in TV area but would be very supprised if it did not involve them providing content to you.

I agree that Apple's domain is providing media content. I am looking forward to an Apple TV that will finally blur the line between my computing and television-watching existences. I'm hoping for an iCar and an iHome before Apple ever buying out Disney. But I'm glad that this was posted, very interesting, never really know what will happen with these companies (cough! Lucas! COUGH!).

 

[raidermatt]

That said, after thinking about it I'm not even sure what sort of "nickel and diming" you are specifically referring to. A Disney parks visit isn't cheap, but you pretty much pay for the elements you wish to purchase: room, tickets, food, souvenirs.

There are some extra experiences which cost more--like the Animal Kingdom safari experience or fireworks dessert parties. But those items have such low capacity that there is no practical way they could be offered to 30,000 park guests each day.

Patience.

What do you think My Magic+ is really all about?

 

[Faldred]

I mean not to be a troll here but why in te world would Appple want to buy Disney. Sounds like a giant headache.

No, it's a solid question. My position in favor of the buyout is that Apple's future direction seems to be focused on media distribution,and that Disney's media assets (ABC, ESPN, Touchstone, et. al.) would give them leverage in pushing the industry as a whole to adopt the distribution models they envisage.

A counter-argument to that is that Apple wants to be the distribution channel, not necessarily the content provider, and that they ownership of large media assets might prove too large of a conflict of interest to get the other major players to go along.

Reasons this isn't totally crazy talk -- 1) Disney and Apple have had a long-standing relationship via the late Steve Jobs. 2) Apple has the assets to gain at least controlling interest without breaking the bank, and 3) Tim Cook (new Apple CEO) has expressed interest in doing... something... with the giant pile of cash the company has built up, rather than just sit on it.

Personally, I'd think it would be crazy for Apple to have not considered the possibility, even if they decided, in the end, that it wasn't a good idea.

 

[jgh]

But the bathrooms would be made completely out of that futuristic, glossy white material like all their computers and stores. And Siri could tell me what happened to all the toilet paper!

Also...the park maps wouldn't be able to get anyone anywhere! Sorry, unless you know the park like the back of your hand, you're outta luck!

 

[mickeyway]

NO WAY sponsor a ride in EPCOT, but no buying out on either side.

 

[leeg229]

We were talking about corporate takeovers in my finance class last night!! Let's see if I learned anything.

A takeover involves not just the market cap but the purchasing of assets and debt too. Disney would almost certainly employ the poison pill tactic and make it really difficult and undesirable for apple or any other company to employ a hostile takeover. Disney could also incur an insane amount of debt and make itself very unattractive to other companies. Disney could seek out a white knight corporation and merge with them to stave off a takeover. Another kind of funny action Disney could take is to, in turn, try to take over apple. The downside to almost any takeover defense is that the shareholders usually don't fare to well.

 

[DizCaptain]

We were talking about corporate takeovers in my finance class last night!! Let's see if I learned anything.

A takeover involves not just the market cap but the purchasing of assets and debt too. Disney would almost certainly employ the poison pill tactic and make it really difficult and undesirable for apple or any other company to employ a hostile takeover. Disney could also incur an insane amount of debt and make itself very unattractive to other companies. Disney could seek out a white knight corporation and merge with them to stave off a takeover. Another kind of funny action Disney could take is to, in turn, try to take over apple. The downside to almost any takeover defense is that the shareholders usually don't fare to well.

These are all pretty extreme cases.... I don't see either taking over the other, but if anything (and this is to be taken very lightly) a merger would be ideal, and I don't even think that should be an idea right now since both companies are high in profit.

 

[Dznefreek]

No
I don't want my fave rides rides being closed and reopened constantly as they make subtle and not needed changes (iPad/iPhone style)