News Round Up 2019

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We checked flights out of Dallas and they were a bit cheaper, but not really that much.

Well bummer

 

[Firebird060]

Hmm I just came back from Paris about a month ago I only paid 600 round trip per person from nyc, I could have even got it cheaper if I wanted to use a discount airline. I took virgin air their and Air France on the way back all non stop. I can usually get airfare round trip from where I live to orlando for about 150 to 200 a person and it’s only a hour and a half flight

 

[OSUZorba]

There was a drop in attendance in 2016 from 2015 for all 4 parks and though those numbers were marginal it was still a decrease.

In 2017 Pandora totally helped with the attendance (+15%) with MK being +0.2%, Epcot +4.2%, and DHS dropping -0.5%.

In 2018 TSL I'm assumping helped a bit for DHS(5%) but the main increase was again at AK (10%) likely still due to Pandora, MK was 2.0%, with Epcot at 2.0%

Now this is just me pondering out loud but if you had removed Pandora from ever being there and TSL from ever being there and if Star Wars wasn't happening would a more than just marginal increase in attendance have occurred with large pricing increases among other things? Impossible to answer but I think it's worth thinking about.

I assume some of the attendance boost at AK is also from becoming an all day park, which happened when Pandora opened.

Wall street got pretty antsy when the attendance dropped in 2016, too, even though revenue was still up quite a bit.

I used to be a shareholder of a high end gym and I followed the stock pretty closely. Wall Street wanted more revenue, so they kept increasing prices. As the price went up, membership went down, but revenue kept going up. Every earnings call they got tons of questions about why their membership was going down and how they were going to fix that. Because of my experience with that stock, I don't believe Disney actually wants attendance to drop, they just want to squeeze every nickle out of every guest while showing a small increase in guests.

 

[soniam]

I remember how much Aaron's company had to pay to send him to Toyko in 2014

Do you think it would have been cheaper though if you had gone from Austin as opposed to KC? Being in the middle of the country can have its advantages but not for international travel really.

I have been seeing cheaper flights to Tokyo from Austin or Dallas for this summer than what we paid for Barcelona and Chile

Hmm I just came back from Paris about a month ago I only paid 600 round trip per person from nyc, I could have even got it cheaper if I wanted to use a discount airline. I took virgin air their and Air France on the way back all non stop. I can usually get airfare round trip from where I live to orlando for about 150 to 200 a person and it’s only a hour and a half flight

We have been paying $300-$900 per person for Southwest to MCO, depending upon the time of year. SW is one of the cheapest from here and has a direct flight. t's a 2.5-3 hour flight depending upon direction. So, being on the east coast or at a major hub makes a huge difference.

 

[DarthGallifrey]

I'm not certain how else to explain it. Like "if this didn't exist would this have happened?" That's all I was saying. Apologies you don't find any relevance in my pondering out loud comment

I feel that hypotheticals like that help dissect actual situations. Sometimes you need to remove variables and take a different perspective so I appreciate the pondering.

Personally, I do not feel that the severity and rate of the price increases are justified in the slightest. They are charging people for unfinished products. Even in Disneyland they opened an unfinished land and are marketing the crap out of it

If Mickie and Minnie is delayed further due to scurrying resources to finishes SWGE I think that will hurt them. No one expected SWGE to open in Aug and I think they should have stuck w the original schedule that was announced. Mickie and Minnie, Remmy, and other Animated IPs are still, imo, what people associate with Disney. Yes, Star Wars is owned by them but I don't think it's the driving factor they thought it would be

They are getting greedy and cutting corners and I have a feeling it's going to bite them.

 

[hertamaniac]

So these are starting rates? Wonder what the average CM with a couple of years in actually makes.

I'm not sure what the average/median wage is for a CM with years of experience. I would think that with this rate schedule increase for starters the union negotiated, at a minimum, a maching % increase for those with years of experience. They may have looked at the delta and applied these increases, linearly.

 

[Farro]

I feel that hypotheticals like that help dissect actual situations. Sometimes you need to remove variables and take a different perspective so I appreciate the pondering.

Personally, I do not feel that the severity and rate of the price increases are justified in the slightest. They are charging people for unfinished products. Even in Disneyland they opened an unfinished land and are marketing the crap out of it

If Mickie and Minnie is delayed further due to scurrying resources to finishes SWGE I think that will hurt them. No one expected SWGE to open in Aug and I think they should have stuck w the original schedule that was announced. Mickie and Minnie, Remmy, and other Animated IPs are still, imo, what people associate with Disney. Yes, Star Wars is owned by them but I don't think it's the driving factor they thought it would be

They are getting greedy and cutting corners and I have a feeling it's going to bite them.

I agree.

I'm happy Galaxy's Edge is built because it gives us another land to explore and freshens the trip up, but honestly I'm looking forward to all the other rides being built (including Tron), new design of Epcot, new country in World Showcase, etc. way more than visiting Galaxy's Edge.

 

[fatmanatee]

Wine and Dine medals:

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...f-the-disney-wine-dine-half-marathon-weekend/
These.... do not seem on theme? Granted, last year was my first really paying attention to these things but I would never guess a wine and dine theme with these designs. That being said I wish I could do the two course for that Three Caballeros medal!

I'm unfamiliar with what Disney has done with past designs here but these are really fantastic, love that they're leaning in on the Epcot attractions. Wonder if they'll do something similar for Rival Run weekend, would open up a lot of possibilities.

 

[DarthGallifrey]

I agree.

I'm happy Galaxy's Edge is built because it gives us another land to explore and freshens the trip up, but honestly I'm looking forward to all the other rides being built (including Tron), new design of Epcot, new country in World Showcase, etc. way more than visiting Galaxy's Edge.

And I LOVE Star Wars. Personally, it's just not why I go to Disney. I think SWGE fits wonderfully in HWS. Dont know it was needed in Disneyland and I wish that space had been used on something more fitting.

I'm hesitant of the changes to EPCOT. It needs some TLC bad but I do not trust Bob Chapek one bit haha. The potential is there for something amazing so fingers crossed

 

[OKW Lover]

Wanted to mention that when I was in Epcot Thursday (7/11) that the GotG building, as large as it is, kind of blends into the background when looking across World Showcase. From Morocco, its apparent if you look for it. But its a reflective blue that makes it less obvious. Still, that is a huge building.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

They are getting greedy and cutting corners and I have a feeling it's going to bite them.

I joined these boards back in 2007 (started following in 2005 before joining)... people have been saying that since then. Guess I'm still waiting for it...

 

[bananasplitkids]

You guys think tickets to Europe this summer were bad, try one to Africa I'll be paying that one off for a while.

I totally feel you on that one. We are going over Christmas/New Years $1700 for economy.

 

[rteetz]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1150457951095836675

 

[TheMaxRebo]

NEWS

Aladdin crosses $950m globally, Toy Story 4 $750m

https://thedisinsider.com/2019/07/14/aladdin-toy-sory-4-box-office/

also, just thinking How Big this year can get for Disney, they are already at $6.4bn in global ticket sales, and still has the Lion King, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Frozen 2, and Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker coming

 

[rteetz]

NEWS

Aladdin crosses $950m globally, Toy Story 4 $750m

https://thedisinsider.com/2019/07/14/aladdin-toy-sory-4-box-office/

also, just thinking How Big this year can get for Disney, they are already at $6.4bn in global ticket sales, and still has the Lion King, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Frozen 2, and Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker coming

And that’s not even anything from Fox either.

 

[scrappinginontario]

News

https://blogmickey.com/2019/07/new-...buses-now-traveling-around-walt-disney-world/

Does anyone know if the wifi is turned on in the new buses or any Disney buses? Have heard it’s coming and is something I’m really looking forward to!

 

[rteetz]

Does anyone know if the wifi is turned on in the new buses or any Disney buses? Have heard it’s coming and is something I’m really looking forward to!

Not yet, and Disney hasn’t confirmed yet.

 

[clayfolks]

I would love to do Europe but I can’t get past the flight cost. We would probably have to drive several hours to a major city to get anything decently priced.

If you go to travel zoo and subscribe to the travel zoo top 20, which comes out every Wednesday, you will find really great deals for European vacations. We did both Barcelona/London and Italy last year for less that $1300 per person per trip, including air, hotel, and breakfast every day. As my disgust with Disney increases, international travel becomes more frequent.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

NEWS

Aladdin crosses $950m globally, Toy Story 4 $750m

https://thedisinsider.com/2019/07/14/aladdin-toy-sory-4-box-office/

also, just thinking How Big this year can get for Disney, they are already at $6.4bn in global ticket sales, and still has the Lion King, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Frozen 2, and Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker coming

I'm expecting Maleficent to be a big flop, though I guess we'll see.

 

[larry47591]

I'm expecting Maleficent to be a big flop, though I guess we'll see.

I figure that is why it was moved to this year. Much easier to hidden in the finances this year. No chance they make as much money from movies next year.