Can we talk cars?

[Planogirl]

I agree with HB2K too. Cedar Point and WDW are in no way similar in style but they each have their niche. Cedar Point seems to be pushing the envelope at developing those attractions that they do best and offering more and better to their clientele while WDW seems to mostly on their laurels or just install little cheap-o rides to say that they installed something. Hopefully, Mission Space will change that but they have a ways to go IMO before they can be labelled progressive nowadays.

 

[Bob O]

Raidermatt-I saw Snow dogs as my daughters got the dvd for x-mas and while its a nice kids movie its not something a adult would choose to see on his own and i wouldnt go and see any of the movies you mentioned on my own. Now LOTR is a great family movie, one where all can enjoy and adults arent bored and looking at their watches. A family movie should be one gthe whole family can enjoy and not have to be endured by adults!!!
I have been to Cedar Point and while it is no disney in the least it does go after a different audience and most years it does add a top flight attraction which is alot more than disney can say, look at the supposed 100th anniv. celebration, they were unable to add anything close to e ticket or even c ticket but used it to update several parades which was done to seel more snow globes than anything else. If disney were to follow their design at least one park every year would get a E ticket type attraction paid for by disney and not done thru a sponership like MS which is why disney hasnt added anything major in years, they are too cheap to give the guests anything new and are happy to rest on their laurels. And while doing this they cut back on maintence/park hours!!!

 

[HB2K]

Now LOTR is a great family movie, one where all can enjoy and adults arent bored and looking at their watches.

BobO...I love your opinions and usually we're on the same page but the thought of this makes me shudder.

I've got a 4 year old son. I wouldn't let him dream about LOR for another 5 years....never mind watch the movie.

And while doing this they cut back on maintence/park hours!!!

And when they fix something they broke, they announce it like it's a new attraction.

BTW...I just figured out why Carosel & Timekeeper are closed. They will be the re-opened as WDW's tribute to Disneyland's 50th Anniversary! It's a revolutionary concept....recycle your attractions. It's like children. Mothers rotate a child's toys so they all stay fresh, Disney will do the same with attractions.

 

[HB2K]

park

Places like Kings Island and Cedar Point and Six Flags Over Georgia or Kentucky Kingdom are great places to catch a quick thrill for around 40 bucks or so. But, if you go to these places all they are are a collection of rides placed on top of concrete without any goal other than thrillng the guest.

Frankly, while they do a good job of that (especially Cedar Point), their expectation level is so low that exceeding it hardly takes any effort.

But, this is really that old kumquats argument.

No it's not. You're straying off of the topic is making it that way.

I was asked to backup my statements that other stateside parks were expanding on grand levels to entice their customers back...even in the tough economy.

I gave you an example. Cedar is clearly doing that, as are others. Disney is not.

My point was not whether a certain ride belongs in WDW. I was not contrasting the two parks either. WDW has thier clientele, they are a theme park. Cedar point is a thrill park. But I stand by my assertion that business is business.

Cedar could have taken the same approach that Disney has. Do nothing, or do it on the cheap. And their customers would still have come.

But they did not.

Not only did they expand they built the best product for their customers in the world. Disney buys the cheapest possible products for theirs.

Finally, things like Mickey's Philarmagic might be sliced and diced on this board as "Ho-hum" but I guarantee that it will be one of the most loved attractions by kids at MK.

And so will Shrek 4d, Jimmy Neutron, et al. Philarmagic will be nice, I'm sure (although AV's musings about possible cost cutting scare me), it's the same old, same old.

So, while it isn't groundbreaking, and might not stir all of our interests on this board, I have a 15 month year old who could care less about Tower of Terror or M:S...but, thought that he'd died and gone to heaven when he headed into the Playhouse Disney show or the Boneyard...

As does my 4 year old scoop. And he loves the spinners, etc. But what happens when he grows up? What happens when he outgrows playhouse disney? Are there other things for him as a tweener? Will they still be there when he's old enough to enjoy them (although he did just about all the rides on our last trip)?

What will be left for my grandchildren when they go, if things keep going at the current rate?

That's why I'm in car 4.

 

[pheneix]

>>>Places like Kings Island and Cedar Point and Six Flags Over Georgia or Kentucky Kingdom are great places to catch a quick thrill for around 40 bucks or so.<<<

You think Kentucky Kingdom is a great place to catch a thrill? No wonder you're pleased with everything Disney does.

Kentucky Kingdom is a tragic amusement park tale, as they were quickly becoming a real contender for Premier bought the place out and intentionally crippled it.

>>>I think it has to compare/contrast parks a little more similar and, at the very least, compare parks which are open year round.<<<

Like, say- Universal? I can already think of two attractions they are developing and or building (The Mummy and IOA's 2005 E-ticket) that are easily on the same level as Disney's classic attractions.

For that matter I would even compare Sea World and Busch Gardens to Disney's parks. The attractions are of lower caliber than Disney's (but at least Busch is trying), but they are definitely cleaner than any Disney park I have been two in the past few years.

>>>I was asked to backup my statements that other stateside parks were expanding on grand levels to entice their customers back...even in the tough economy.<<<

That is absolutely true. To borrow a page from AV's playbook, Disney is the only major theme park operator that is content to blame the audience for it's shortcomings.

 

[pheneix]

>>>I forgot which one of those two Universal attractions have actually gotten past the Forbidden Mountain stage and been publicly announced?<<<

Last time I checked Forbidden Mountain has not been publicly announced. It also will probably never be built either.

BTW, I'll see you on The Mummy next April, unless you are staring across the lake at Animal Kingdom looking for construction cranes that are "rumored" to be going up any day now...

 

[pheneix]

As long as Disney thinks they are building an RnRC clone, I'm sure the guys at Universal Creative won't mind.

 

[Planogirl]

The concept of defending a park by criticizing another has always interested me but I don't really get it. I can't speak for Universal YET and won't bother to defend Sea World since liking or disliking it is clearly a matter of taste but Disney's shortcomings are clear relative to what Disney USED to be. Or at least that's the way it appears to me. They may still be ahead of the others but that lead seems to be narrowing because they don't try all that hard any more while the others do still seem to be trying.

 

[Another Voice]

From Mr. Scoop -
“Sure, Disney is a four park place but it's admission price is hardly much more than Cedar Point etc. Plus, it has to stay open year round (and all the attendant costs involved of being open during a slow season) as opposed to these others which can bring in a bunch of money during the high season and then hibernate.”

Ah, “has to" stay open with all those “attendant costs” while everyone else in the country basks in glow from their overflowing vaults?

Yes, the Michael Eisner Charities work so hard to help you and me out in the depths of winter. Bringing a smile to our faces in spite of the tremendous costs they must bear. Unlike all those greedy Cedar Point capitalists driving their SUV’s. No, Michael Einser’s own children will go barefoot in winter just so you have to opportunity to pay $300 a night for a hotel room. Mr. Scoop – this is one of the most “interesting” explanations anyone has come up with.

Disney’s money-grubbing at the parks has nothing to do with the parks themselves. Disney's park follow the same investment and return rules that Cedar's parks do. Please, next time you try to excuse away Disney’s unwillingness to invest in the parks (and their guests), please start with ABC, the Studios, Eisner’s corporate jet, the stock options, paying off half of Hollywood and that really huge reserve they’re rumored to be building for ‘Pooh’ before you try to get to the “WDW is nothing but a struggling mom ‘n pop operation” item.


P.S. Universal Orlando now has three attractions under construction – the ‘Mummy’ thrill ride, the Jimmy Neutron simulator and the ‘Shrek 4-D’ film.