News Round Up 2016

[Mouse of Mystery]

I don't see the cancellation of the Muppets show affecting their meager presence in the parks. People just didn't get the show -- they like the Muppets when they are associated with a good product. If they aren't going to revive the variety show, they just need to stick to releasing a well-made movie every few years or so.

Other than Pirates and Peter Pan in rather unimpressed too

Pirates was just amazing. I hide my head in shame a little when I whisper to myself that I almost wouldn't mind if they replaced the MK ride with Shanghai's version.

I did think the castle walkthrough was very cute and some of the effects were nice. I liked the Fantasyland water ride, but it wasn't something I'd want to see over and over again.

 

[rteetz]

 

[rteetz]

 

[disneymath]

Count me as another who thinks closing each park for a day a week (on different days from each other) could be the lesser of the budget cutting evils. I would rather the option of a full day and complete experience at each park on 6 out of 7 days a week than a reduced / incomplete experience available at all parks 7 days a week.

Guest dissatisfaction could be mitigated by not starting this for at least a few months and agressively spreading the word about when each park would be closed (e.g. MK always closed Monday, EP Tuesday, etc.) so that folks could plan accordingly.

Park crowding concerns could be addressed by having cross-trained staff who can work at two parks. The overflow from a closed park could be managed if rides were operating at full capacity and all venues were adequately staffed. (These extras would still be much cheaper than the daily cost of operating a full park.)

As mentioned by a PP, having the parks closed for a day would give maintenance and construction workers a large chunk of uninterrupted work time each week ... this might actually help reduce overall maintenance costs in the long run as minor issues could be addressed before they become major. It would likely also reduce project timelines so that new attractions start earning money faster and existing attractions are down for shorter periods of time.

Just my $0.02 ... and with the Canadian exchange rate, it's not even worth that!

 

[DisneyGeekyParadise]

This isn't exactly Disney news, but it does relate to Castle getting cancelled and Marvel a little I guess.
How I Met Your Mother is over.
Castle was axed.
Whedon is no longer working on Avengers movies I think.
I think there's a big chance for a certain Doctor Horrible to finally get a sequel.

 

[zaccaglin]

I think Nashville is a surprise too but it's been getting weird and not as good as of late at least in my opinion. I never got into any of those other shows.

I agree, not anywhere as good as it was, but with as long as it had its run I assumed there was still a decent following at least.

 

[mikepizzo]

News

ABC went on a cancelling spree. Muppets, Agent Carter, Galavant, Nashville, and Castle all got the axe.

I guess I was mistaken in thinking both Agent Carter and Galavant were supposed to be mini-series.

I always thought Agent Carter was only a one or two season show anyways, as a kind of "filler" show.

I thought I remember hearing that Galavant was only a limited run anyways. As it was the mid-season replacement for Once Upon a Time in both 2015 and this year.

Maybe the terminology they are using are just different than what I assumed. I would think, at least for Galavant, they would just say the series ended...but I don't really watch TV, so I guess I'm wrong.

 

[SureAsLiz]

So it's definitely not for the new Castle stage show?

The new show features characters from Princess and the Frog, Tangled, and Frozen. It's been announced that the new Christmas show will have Snow White, but no mention so far for anything featuring Cinderella.

For the new show, I know they are using at least a few who are already with the company rather than casting for them. I don't remember who they auditioned for outside of non-character performers if they did at all.

 

[rteetz]

Count me as another who thinks closing each park for a day a week (on different days from each other) could be the lesser of the budget cutting evils. I would rather the option of a full day and complete experience at each park on 6 out of 7 days a week than a reduced / incomplete experience available at all parks 7 days a week.

Guest dissatisfaction could be mitigated by not starting this for at least a few months and agressively spreading the word about when each park would be closed (e.g. MK always closed Monday, EP Tuesday, etc.) so that folks could plan accordingly.

Park crowding concerns could be addressed by having cross-trained staff who can work at two parks. The overflow from a closed park could be managed if rides were operating at full capacity and all venues were adequately staffed. (These extras would still be much cheaper than the daily cost of operating a full park.)

As mentioned by a PP, having the parks closed for a day would give maintenance and construction workers a large chunk of uninterrupted work time each week ... this might actually help reduce overall maintenance costs in the long run as minor issues could be addressed before they become major. It would likely also reduce project timelines so that new attractions start earning money faster and existing attractions are down for shorter periods of time.

Just my $0.02 ... and with the Canadian exchange rate, it's not even worth that!

While I can't see Disney ever doing that because that's potential lost revenue you are correct that it would work. With how today's Disney operates it just isn't going to happen. Disney has it embedded in our brains that the parks are open 365 days out of the year and people would be outraged if they changed that.

I'm also not directing this at you but around everyone on this topic. The budget cut topic has its own threads if we want to continue this conversation can we take it there rather than this thread. Thanks!

 

[ladyelizabeth]

This isn't exactly Disney news, but it does relate to Castle getting cancelled and Marvel a little I guess.
How I Met Your Mother is over.
Castle was axed.
Whedon is no longer working on Avengers movies I think.
I think there's a big chance for a certain Doctor Horrible to finally get a sequel.

This is a very exciting possibility.

 

[Founders Fan]

I'm afraid to ask, buts whats wrong with the yeti?

He's stuck in the 70's...

 

[rteetz]

News

The Edison in Disney Springs update

http://www.wdwmagic.com/dining/the-...ing-date-for-the-edison-at-disney-springs.htm

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Interesting read

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/disney-second-quarter-cable-consumer-long-term-magic-141820223.html

It's an interesting read, though also important to keep in mind what analysts are looking at - they are judging if a stock should be bought, held, or sold .... which doesn't always match up with the long term potential of an IP powerhouse company. Sometimes it has to do with the current position and basically, after the earnings vs the day before how has your view of buying the stock changed - and with earnings down they are less bullish on the idea of buying Disney stock which pushes the stock price down

 

[skier_pete]

Not bothering to quote, but a few comments.

Agent Carter being cancelled is not at all surprising - even though it's a much better show than AOS, the ratings for the first season were bad, but the second season were atrocious. Mostly I will miss Hayley Atwell on my TV set, though it sounds like she got another gig.

The Muppets being cancelled is extremely disappointing. I always thought this would word better as a non-network show though, as the muppets have the problem of being a Puppet show directed at an adult audience. Putting it on something like Freeform would make a lot more sense. It does make me fear for the future of the Muppets. The last movie did not do very well either. Without a source (TV/Movies) where do the Muppets go. Maybe a series on a Netflix or Hulu or something? They can't be expensive to produce.

Finally on the Subject of the Yeti. The Yeti only worked as designed for about 6 months. Somehow the engineers messed up and didn't calculate the amount of force the yeti was putting on his own structure. For a while they tried various fixes, and he would run for short periods of time, but then be down again. It's been probably 6-7 years since he last actually moved.

During the ABD Backstage tour we took in 2013 I was talking to a couple of the imagineers that were hosting the tour for us. I asked them about Star Wars (this was about 6 months after the purchase) and they could say very little at the time, but then I asked them about the Yeti. They said there is a plan in place to fix the Yeti and it would take about 6 weeks for the ride to be down to do it. Because of the lack of rides at DAK, management won't allow the downtime. Anything about "he'll be fixed once Avatar is opened" is mere speculation, but it is LOGICAL speculation. Once Avatar is online - they would be much more apt to be able to take the ride down during a slow season. However, my guess is it still won't happen for several years.

 

[rteetz]

News

Johnny Depp paid a visit to guests at Disneyland as the Mad Hatter.

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...s-disneyland-resort-guests-as-the-mad-hatter/

 

[rteetz]

During the ABD Backstage tour we took in 2013 I was talking to a couple of the imagineers that were hosting the tour for us. I asked them about Star Wars (this was about 6 months after the purchase) and they could say very little at the time, but then I asked them about the Yeti. They said there is a plan in place to fix the Yeti and it would take about 6 weeks for the ride to be down to do it. Because of the lack of rides at DAK, management won't allow the downtime. Anything about "he'll be fixed once Avatar is opened" is mere speculation, but it is LOGICAL speculation. Once Avatar is online - they would be much more apt to be able to take the ride down during a slow season. However, my guess is it still won't happen for several years.

Yep I've heard there is more than one plan. I've also heard there is a way to take the yeti out but who wants to ride without the yeti so it would make sense just to shut it down. It's going to be interesting to see if Shanghai does get Everest how much worse that will make the Orlando yeti look.

 

[rteetz]

Photo update

The DisneyTown Walt Disney Theater in Shanghai.

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2016/05/shanghai-disneyland-update-closer-look.html?m=1

 

[Budshark]

Gonna piggy back on an earlier topic, and "create" a rumor here...

Muppets, Agent Carter, Galavant all have a place in the world. Muppets in particular still have a mini-themed land coming and presence at HOP (still happening right?).

So - what happens to semi-popular interesting shows that don't make it in todays network world? They go streaming only.

Couple that with Disney's interest in BAM Media (MLB.TV), recent streaming only deals, etc.

Its not hard to see a Disney branded "Netflix" style service where you have the Disney channels, VOD of the ABC network shows, and some streaming only shows such as Muppets and Agent Carter where they can be a little more free with them (Muppets go with a shorter format - 18-20 minute shows, Agent Carter a little edgier).

There is value in those brands - even if they aren't a network television platform. I think sooner or later we see Disney make this move.

 

[rteetz]

presence at HOP (still happening right?).

Not officially still a rumor.

 

[rteetz]

Photo update

Planet Hollywood continues its change to the observatory.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/dining/plan...lanet-hollywood-observatory-redevelopment.htm