Another Voice
Charter Member of The Element
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2000
- Messages
- 3,191
You know what makes this bird go up? Funding. FUNDING makes this makes bird go up. No bucks, no Buck Rogers! The Right Stuff
I think its way to early to say that Jay gets it more than Pressler does. But one thing is already very clear - both come from a mindset the sees the parks as only assets to be exploited.
Its an attitude that really comes from the top down, probably why these two gentlemen were promoted by Eisner in the first place. Simply, Eisner doesnt know the first thing about creating an attraction so exciting that people will pay to see it; but he does know all about hotel margins, sales per square foot, average food cost per plate all the business stuff you can build around what someone else has created (its also the same model as a broadcast network when you think about it). Thats why all the emphasis has been on hotels, vacation time shares, mini-golf course, leasing pads to restaurants, etc. Even the new parks are designed around ancillary revenue generators first, attractions second. Eisner gets the business angle but he doesnt have an interest in show.
But no one will go to a tourist destination unless theres something unique to see. No one goes to Mount Rushmore for the t-shirt shops and fast food joints on the roads nearby. There has to be a core product thats the draw. And even more, unless they add a new president, people aren't likely to go back all that often.
Plain fact: too many people have seen WDW too many times to keep the current attendance levels at the same pace. The new stuff like piling in retail and restaurants doesnt make a tourist destination, it makes a shopping mall. Its not something anyone is going to spend a week at. Especially not if its crammed with the same Rainforest Café/Virgin Megastore/Disney Store thats already exists less than an hours drive away. And the new attractions are too scattered, too uninteresting and just plain too common for a repeat visit. Yes, YOU may want to travel all the way to Florida to see Dino-Rama, but the business needs the 13,999,999 people who do not.
What Disneys parks desperately need now is the WOW! factor returned. They need someone who understands how to put on a show.
You will never get anyone excited about cost effectiveness, but they will throw money at you if you entertain them well. The economics of the situation require that you provide them with the best entertainment made for the resources at hand: there are plenty of movies made for $5 million that out gross movies made for $100 millions dollars. No one cares about how much money the movie cost to make or what the return is going to be. They just want a good movie. But fail to deliver it and all the finally calculated margins mean absolutely nothing.
Someone who understands entertainment knows its a balancing act between what you want to make and the resources at hand. Sometimes you have to be cleaver about how you spend your money; sometimes you have to scale back. Sometime you gamble a lot because you have confidence; sometimes is better not even to start at all because the resources are so thin. The goal is not to waste money on bad products it doesnt matter if its a lot of money or a little.
That is the real legacy of Paul Pressler: it wasnt the cost cutting and closures. Paul didnt deliver good show.
Its time to find someone who can.
I think its way to early to say that Jay gets it more than Pressler does. But one thing is already very clear - both come from a mindset the sees the parks as only assets to be exploited.
Its an attitude that really comes from the top down, probably why these two gentlemen were promoted by Eisner in the first place. Simply, Eisner doesnt know the first thing about creating an attraction so exciting that people will pay to see it; but he does know all about hotel margins, sales per square foot, average food cost per plate all the business stuff you can build around what someone else has created (its also the same model as a broadcast network when you think about it). Thats why all the emphasis has been on hotels, vacation time shares, mini-golf course, leasing pads to restaurants, etc. Even the new parks are designed around ancillary revenue generators first, attractions second. Eisner gets the business angle but he doesnt have an interest in show.
But no one will go to a tourist destination unless theres something unique to see. No one goes to Mount Rushmore for the t-shirt shops and fast food joints on the roads nearby. There has to be a core product thats the draw. And even more, unless they add a new president, people aren't likely to go back all that often.
Plain fact: too many people have seen WDW too many times to keep the current attendance levels at the same pace. The new stuff like piling in retail and restaurants doesnt make a tourist destination, it makes a shopping mall. Its not something anyone is going to spend a week at. Especially not if its crammed with the same Rainforest Café/Virgin Megastore/Disney Store thats already exists less than an hours drive away. And the new attractions are too scattered, too uninteresting and just plain too common for a repeat visit. Yes, YOU may want to travel all the way to Florida to see Dino-Rama, but the business needs the 13,999,999 people who do not.
What Disneys parks desperately need now is the WOW! factor returned. They need someone who understands how to put on a show.
You will never get anyone excited about cost effectiveness, but they will throw money at you if you entertain them well. The economics of the situation require that you provide them with the best entertainment made for the resources at hand: there are plenty of movies made for $5 million that out gross movies made for $100 millions dollars. No one cares about how much money the movie cost to make or what the return is going to be. They just want a good movie. But fail to deliver it and all the finally calculated margins mean absolutely nothing.
Someone who understands entertainment knows its a balancing act between what you want to make and the resources at hand. Sometimes you have to be cleaver about how you spend your money; sometimes you have to scale back. Sometime you gamble a lot because you have confidence; sometimes is better not even to start at all because the resources are so thin. The goal is not to waste money on bad products it doesnt matter if its a lot of money or a little.
That is the real legacy of Paul Pressler: it wasnt the cost cutting and closures. Paul didnt deliver good show.
Its time to find someone who can.
) is now about 50% Disney clothes including bathrobes, nightshirts, then another portion of the store has Disney art including Mickey golfing statues, finally, one back wall with a few AK shirts.
