Interesting read about Disney here! I gotta agree!

[flicx]

http://www.foxbusiness.com/investing/2016/01/02/disney-world-cant-phone-it-in-again-in-2016/ Thoughts?

 

[eliza61]

I think many people have agreed way before this article. H.S. is downright pitiful, even to first timers. I just can't understand how they let that park get so lousy.

Now end of last year I sold some of my dvc points. I'm down to one remaining bcv's holding.

But I also think that maybe I'm suffering from burnout. every year with nothing new for 10 years can make anyone jaded.

I'm taking a "wait and see" attitude. no more family trips until somethinng new gets completed but I'll keep my eye out before making a decision on selling last dvc

 

[flicx]

I think many people have agreed way before this article. H.S. is downright pitiful, even to first timers. I just can't understand how they let that park get so lousy.

I think you are right. So many try to silence those who think this!

 

[BigAlsGal]

Not sure what they mean. Disney is investing in both DHS and AK. DHS is getting 2 new areas and animal kingdom getting avatar Land. New things going on at Epcot too with frozen ride, soarin refurb, and new innoventions changes. Not to mention the NFL expansion in MK. Really they're blasting the old captain EO space?

Fwiw last time I rode captain EO (at thanksgiving) the theatre didn't shake. Maybe it's broke.

 

[eliza61]

I think you are right. So many try to silence those who think this!

Lol if you have to remember where your playing. for most folks here Disney is next to God. objectivity is not our strong suit.

I do agree with the author on one point, many many other places are offering quality family vacations at great price points. Disney will have to work for my vacation dollars.

 

[eliza61]

Not sure what they mean. Disney is investing in both DHS and AK. DHS is getting 2 new areas and animal kingdom getting avatar Land. New things going on at Epcot too with frozen ride, soarin refurb, and new innoventions changes. Not to mention the NFL expansion in MK. Really they're blasting the old captain EO space?

Fwiw last time I rode captain EO (at thanksgiving) the theatre didn't shake. Maybe it's broke.

No what they are saying is that
1) H.S. is lousy and has been for awhile. they've been announcing star wars land for at least 2 years, probably 3
2) As of the time of the article all that's happened there is a film short

Has anything avatar opened yet??? in less time they've managed to get 3 dvc resorts done and consistently raising both ticket and resort prices. basically he's just questioning why and saying the going to have to produce. sooner or later a "dance party" experience doesn't cut it

 

[BigAlsGal]

No what they are saying is that
1) H.S. is lousy and has been for awhile. they've been announcing star wars land for at least 2 years, probably 3
2) As of the time of the article all that's happened there is a film short

Has anything avatar opened yet??? in less time they've managed to get 3 dvc resorts done and consistently raising both ticket and resort prices. basically he's just questioning why and saying the going to have to produce. sooner or later a "dance party" experience doesn't cut it

They are in the production stages though . I could understand the article if there was NOTHING in the hopper but there is actually a lot. I'm very excited about the new stuff.

And what's wrong with a dance party?!? Ha!

 

[CAS239]

Fwiw last time I rode captain EO (at thanksgiving) the theatre didn't shake. Maybe it's broke.

We were there a few days ago and watched the 3 short films. It shook and moved around nicely.

I think they removed most of, if not all of the movement in Capt EO. We watched it two times last year and I didn't recall the theater moving at all.

 

[epcotty]

Not to mention the NFL expansion in MK.

Are you ready for some football? Kidding, I know what you mean.

HS is temporarily interesting now but soon won't be again for quite a while. I still don't get why they couldn't put the Osborne Lights in World Showcase. Or maybe around various locations in AK. But at least they do seem to be working on new stuff, even if Frozen doesn't belong in World Showcase (I guess it'll be regular employees in that section now, as it's not a real country)

 

[lugnut33]

Yeah, they have things on the board, but it's upsetting they let both Epcot and HS to fall into such a state. Disney should combine tickets for Epcot and HS until the parks are brought up to higher standards.

 

[Angel Ariel]

My feeling from the article is that Disney can't rely on "what they have coming" to continue to sustain and increase attendance during the yearS (and crazy at of construction) that it will take to complete them, especially while other parks are building very high quality, immersive family experiences. Disney has to do something to continue to draw guests while all that stuff is coming, and whatever they do needs to be a higher quality than things like this new Pixar short film where the full scope of the 4d theatre isn't even bring used.

That's what I got out if it, anyway, and I can't say I disagree

 

[Minniekins]

And, really they didn't officially announce Star Wars lands until this past summer, in August, at D23. Before that it was rumored but never confirmed, so of course it wasn't being worked on, at least in any way the general public could see or knew about.

I think it's great that new things are finally coming around and hopefully they step up production and these new things don't take so long that eventually no one is interested that is interested today. Obviously, we don't know how things work behind the scenes and I'm sure there are many things we have no idea about that are being worked out, and must be done before we start seeing actual building and such going on. Unfortunately, we are all curious, and with Disney usually pretty secretive, we probably won't hear enough news and details to keep us happy until the new things actually open up. And I'm sure most all of us find that extremely frustrating. News and details would be great and welcome and appease many, but I don't think they care to share with anyone but those involved in the loop. I can't imagine why they take so long to actually get things done and built, and likely I will never know. But, I'm still excited things are happening! I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and expect things to come to fruition in a timely manner, which means I'm hoping Disney sees they need to step things up to continue to draw guests and offer a high quality experience. If they continue raising prices while offering nothing new and experiences get lesser, well, that will be a problem I think. You can only go so long on reputation, and hopefully they don't take a huge hit on that.

 

[DOOM1001]

Disney is all about over hyping minor additions to rides,over hyping dance parties,meet and greets and announcements for new additions,those new additions however take the better part of a decade to get built.New Fantasyland was nice but definitely did not blow people away,they're going to really have to impress with Avatar,Star Wars and Toy Story land to come close to what their neighbors are doing.Another area they need help in is their Holiday offerings,I already had them behind all the area parks Sea World,Busch Gardens and Universal with the Osborne lights ,now without them they just fell further back.Understand that this criticism is coming from a Disney and overall theme park fan,Disney can and should be doing much more!!

 

[Ninja Mom]

There was a great article discussing what we have been experiencing with a Disney parks vacation on the theme parks tourist site. It was called "Walt Disney World's Middle Class Problem"

These are dark days indeed for fans of Disney parks. The priority is on selling out the brand to pump up the profits. That is where the entire focus lies. Charging people premium prices for sub par experiences in the parks, at the hotels and the restaurants is unsustainable and a recipe for future failure. So many things have been cut and replaced with crap (lumberjacks) or nothing at all.

When I think about no more Star Wars Weekends, Osborne lights or costumes at the Halloween parties it's easy to stay away from Disney and spend my vacation dollars elsewhere. It will be a pleasure not have to plan my vacation to the exact moment, running here and there to make the reservation or fast pass time. Disney has managed to turn all of us into a herd of lemmings. Only the lemmings are priced out of the parks and they will decide to go elsewhere. The Disney magic is gone. The whole experience has turned to extracting the maximum out of the guest's wallets for the minimum effort of experience.

Universal here we come!

~NM

 

[katallo]

Interesting. We had planned on renewing AP's this year. After seeing how many things are closed...closing etc and now the fact that they may implement parking restrictions for offsite guests we will not renew. Last year, AK was full of construction walls most of the season and HS was so disappointing to us. We spent most of our visits at MK and Epcot. The thing we enjoyed was to be able to spend time at the BW or eating at Disney Restaurants. I realize we can still eat at the restaurants if we stay offsite with ADR's but sometimes we just like to be spur of the moment. Again, this is just our opinion. I do realize there are evidently major parking issues for resorts guests. I guess the many restrictions and the need for this "planning" everything is getting to be a bit too much for us.

 

[DisneyOma]

Aren't Fox and Universal linked somehow? "20th Century Fox/Universal Studios" somes to mind...

 

[mshanson3121]

H.S. is downright pitiful, even to first timers.

Now end of last year I sold some of my dvc points. I'm down to one remaining bcv's holding.

But I also think that maybe I'm suffering from burnout. every year with nothing new for 10 years can make anyone jaded.

I'm taking a "wait and see" attitude. no more family trips until somethinng new gets completed but I'll keep my eye out before making a decision on selling last dvc

I think you are right. So many try to silence those who think this!

Lol if you have to remember where your playing. for most folks here Disney is next to God. objectivity is not our strong suit.

A lot of people on here lack objectivity because they've been so many times, they have a very different set of expectations and forget what it can be like for first timers.
As first timers we absolutely LOVED Hollywood Studios, spent a full day there, and still didn't see/do it all, and easily would have gone back for another day. That's not "happy ooey gooey Disney is God", that's just how we as a family enjoyed it.

 

[jon18uk]

Interesting. We had planned on renewing AP's this year. After seeing how many things are closed...closing etc and now the fact that they may implement parking restrictions for offsite guests we will not renew. Last year, AK was full of construction walls most of the season and HS was so disappointing to us. We spent most of our visits at MK and Epcot. The thing we enjoyed was to be able to spend time at the BW or eating at Disney Restaurants. I realize we can still eat at the restaurants if we stay offsite with ADR's but sometimes we just like to be spur of the moment. Again, this is just our opinion. I do realize there are evidently major parking issues for resorts guests. I guess the many restrictions and the need for this "planning" everything is getting to be a bit too much for us.

The only major attraction that has closed permanently is the Backlot tour. Animation was replaced with Launch Bay, Maelstrom is being replaced with Frozen, the Lion King show at DAK moved.
Innoventions has been on a decline for years as Epcot can't pull in the sponsors it did in the 80s. But generally the problem is they haven't added anything new, the same shows at DHS have been running for 20 years! Yes DHS is disappointing, but it is not due to closures, it is due to the fact that they should have started building years ago. At least Animal Kingdom used last year to expand walkways and shops ready for bigger crowds with Rivers of Light next year and Avatar in 2017.

The main issue is that they announce things years before even starting contstruction. Avatar was announced in 2011 and then they started consructiion January 2014 (with the closure of Lion King show) for openign Spring 2017. three years of construction is reasonable, but three years of doing nothing before that was awful. Then Star Wars Land was announced six months ago, we still don't have any sign of construction. Look at Universal, they gave two weeks notice of Distater closing and then announced Fast & Furious opens 2017, so there is less than two years from announcement to opening! Disney's drawn-out announcement process just annoys.

 

[mshanson3121]

As for the actual article - in a way I don't disagree, especially about the 4D short film thing if that's all they did for effects, yikes. But, why hasn't Disney created a Star Wars ride before now? Let's see.... they had just finished New Fantasyland, and then jumped into Avatar and Frozen ride. Even the almighty Disney is only going to shell out so much money at one time. Nor, are the massive renovations they're going to be doing (TSL/SWL), quick little things that get conjured up overnight. They've been in the think tank for quite some time. I'm not sure why that's such a hard concept to fathom.

To me, once the HS renos are complete, the park that needs help is Epcot's Futureland.

 

[Klinger13]

Aren't Fox and Universal linked somehow? "20th Century Fox/Universal Studios" somes to mind...

No, Universal is owned by Comcast so it's in the NBC family.