AK Attendence

[manning]

dcentity2000 -- You related to Yogi Bera ?

 

[Bstanley]

Ok, let's put it differently.

You are doing an Exit Poll at both the MK and AK.

The Poll question is "Please select the word that best describes how you feel about your visit to this park today?"

The possible answers you select from are:

1) REALLY Happy
2) Happy
3) Somewhat Happy
4) Not Happy at all
5) Downright UnHappy

I think what dcentity2000 is asking is - If the results were that 5 Million out of 10 Million people who visited the MK said they were "Happy", and 3 Million out of 10 Million people who visited AK were "REALLY Happy" then - which park would YOU pick as the most successful.

There isn't enough data - it depends on what the other people thought (IMHO).


But I do think it points out why AK gets 'picked on' so much.

Disney's goal shouldn't be to 'average' a good score - the goal should be to achieve 100% "REALLY Happy". And AK hasn't achieved that.

Personally I love the place, and so does my family - Wouldn't miss it when we visit. But there are certainly folks that don't lose a wink of sleep when they skip it to spend a day someplace else - and that was even more true a couple of years ago.

AK only has about 1/2 of the capacity of the MK so you are never going to see 14 Million people a year kinda numbers of visitors to the place, but that doesn't make it a failure.

 

[raidermatt]

AK only has about 1/2 of the capacity of the MK so you are never going to see 14 Million people a year kinda numbers of visitors to the place, but that doesn't make it a failure.

Maybe we should leave words like "failure" out of the discussion. Failure really does imply something that offers little or no value, or is a true financial loser, and I agree AK does not fall into those categories.

It sounds like we are on the same page about it falling short of expectations, though they have taken some steps to correct that. (Not really enough, and after too long a delay, imho.)

However, my biggest problem with the whole park was the idea that it would only have 1/2 the capacity (or whatever that number is) in the first place.

The idea that it would be a 4th park, but with not even an attempt to make it an equal to the already existing parks, was not the optimal course.

Same problem with MGM. Its not as bad now as it was prior to the additions of the last 10 years or so, but its still not Disney's best effort.

They had a tremendous opportunity, and have failed to even come close to taking full advantage of that opportunity. Same thing with DCA, only it their execution of that plan was even worse.

 

[KNWVIKING]

***"Maybe we should leave words like "failure" out of the discussion. Failure really does imply something that offers little or no value, or is a true financial loser, and I agree AK does not fall into those categories."***

...... for "giving an inch".

***" ...though they have taken some steps to correct that. (Not really enough, and after too long a delay, imho.) "***

Well, I'm willing to give them the benifit of the doubt here and say they did what they could with the funds that were availible. Of course the reason funds weren't availible is an entirely different 20 page thread we can look forward to later. I think we'd all agree that at least for the time being, financially things are looking better for Disney and the overall economy. It also appears they are willing to spend some money..... not "take a risk and break the bank" type funds, but at least funds that will get us something better then Dino.


***"However, my biggest problem with the whole park was the idea that it would only have 1/2 the capacity (or whatever that number is) in the first place." ***

I think AK has more then enough land availible to them to expand the park to someday have MK type capacity. With E:E opening and hopefully a dark ride or two, I can see AK easily competing with Epcot for #2.

 

[dcentity2000]

Bang on Bstanley. Sorry for the confusion everyone



Rich::

 

[lightningcoach]

Since AK opened it's average daily attendance has dropped which is why the hours were reduced. Most people consider it a "half" day park. Building Everest will help to boost attendance, but they will probably have to do more. They already started offering meal deals, which none of the other parks have yet.

We were there in May and it was very crowded, but Dinosaur was down. (surprise, surprise) and we went on the water rapids twice and did not get wet. It actually seems like they stopped running some of the geysers on that ride.

My advice- build another ride like Everest, get rid of the cheesy carnival games in Dino-land and put more children rides in their place. Put in another water ride- how about a water roller coaster like the roller soaker at Hershey park. You can do all this well under an animal theme. Busch Gardens has made it work. Disney with their talent can do a better job of design.

 

[ShadowWind]

BG can be a night time place because it goes out of it's way to make sure there are enough rides and shows to keep people occupied that have nothing to do with animals. Their focus is not to be a zoo, but to be a theme park, with an animal element.

AK, as much as they try to deny it, is in essence a zoo, with a theme park element. A good many of the attractions presented, hinge on live animals. So when these animals cannot work anymore, or find shelter from the forbidding heat, it leaves very little options for the visitors. In the morning, when it's cool, people hit the rides/shows that feature animals. In the afternoon, there is plenty of time in the heat to catch all the shows/rides, leaving really nothing to do at night so people check out early. AK is also hotter than the other 3 parks, and more walking, which gets people tired of the place earlier. EE will certainly help, but I don't think it will be a decision maker in whether AK is open nights like BG is. It would take a lot more maturing in both attractions and restaurants, and a large nighttime spectacular to keep people there after the AK death march.

BTW, to the poster who said Busch Gardens opened in 1980, are you talking about when it became the Dark Continent? Because BG opened way before that, probably in the late 60's at the latest. Back in 1969, Busch Gardens was a small park and one of Florida's highlights, that had no rides (except for the monorail safari) and maybe a train (don't remember), a beer brewery tour, a botanical gardens, and a bird show. That was about it. Like now, the animals seemed to always be a secondary part of the presentation, in constrast to AK's theory. I honestly don't remember when BG became the Dark Continent, so it's entirely possible you are right there, but a lot of people don't remember it's earlier heritage.