Shoud Disney enter the Mississippi River market?

[WaywardMemphian]

Nothing seems as thoroughly Disney as a paddle wheeler and Steamboat Willy. Over the past 5 years cruising the River has gone from nothing to an explosion. Yet, this type of cruising is still geared for the older set. As a father of two, I'd love it if Disney had their own boat geared to families. Somewhere along the route between New Orleans and Memphis (like Tunica) they should open a Castaway Cay type of place that really plays up a Tom And Huck swimming hole. The nightly fireworks should be done near port cities so the locals can get a glimpse(like between the bridges at Memphis and in front of the Arch at St. Louis.

 

[chaseg03]

Nothing seems as thoroughly Disney as a paddle wheeler and Steamboat Willy. Over the past 5 years cruising the River has gone from nothing to an explosion. Yet, this type of cruising is still geared for the older set. As a father of two, I'd love it if Disney had their own boat geared to families. Somewhere along the route between New Orleans and Memphis (like Tunica) they should open a Castaway Cay type of place that really plays up a Tom And Huck swimming hole. The nightly fireworks should be done near port cities so the locals can get a glimpse(like between the bridges at Memphis and in front of the Arch at St. Louis.

No, I believe Disney should stay Disney. It would be too big of a transition. Disney is not geared towards adults. Kids would be bored out of their mind on a river cruise. River cruises are geared towards adults, Disney is geared towards kids. Now this is just my opinion, looking forward to see what others have to say!

 

[MaleficentUK]

Disney already offers European river cruises. I like the first poster's idea of doing a US river cruise, especially if they designed it like an old paddle steamer,

 

[OKW Lover]

Disney is not geared towards adults.

Something this adult would dispute.

 

[WaywardMemphian]

No, I believe Disney should stay Disney. It would be too big of a transition. Disney is not geared towards adults. Kids would be bored out of their mind on a river cruise. River cruises are geared towards adults, Disney is geared towards kids. Now this is just my opinion, looking forward to see what others have to say!

You made my point, all current offerings are for adults.

You would feel the same way if the ship had the same type of features as a regular cruise ship, a club, a movie theater, Disney stage show, all on a smaller scale? Even with a new River Country type of facility as an exclusive stop for a day like Castaway Cay? How would it be any different than an ocean cruise? The major ports have plenty for kids.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

It's a lot harder to set up a private island in a river than it is to buy one from a cash-poor island nation.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

You made my point, all current offerings are for adults.

You would feel the same way if the ship had the same type of features as a regular cruise ship, a club, a movie theater, Disney stage show, all on a smaller scale? Even with a new River Country type of facility as an exclusive stop for a day like Castaway Cay? How would it be any different than an ocean cruise? The major ports have plenty for kids.

Be aware that chase03 is posting from a kid's point of view. He's 13.

 

[WaywardMemphian]

Disney already offers European river cruises. I like the first poster's idea of doing a US river cruise, especially if they designed it like an old paddle steamer,

I like the idea of a side wheeler instead of a stern wheel, but yes, still old school.

 

[darnheather]

I would love this and I think my kids would too if it had the movie theater, shows, etc. They wouldn't need an island, could probably buy some old falling apart town on the river and fix it up. Put in a water park and there you go.

 

[WaywardMemphian]

It's a lot harder to set up a private island in a river than it is to buy one from a cash-poor island nation.

You wouldn't buy an island, it would be under threat of flooding, You find a port where there's plenty of open farmland and be shuttled to it. It's why I mentioned Tunica. Plenty of open land, yet real close to the other side of the levee. I've fished the River from Osceola AR to Tunica MS my whole life. This would not be hard and just a cheap or cheaper as Castaway was. Tunica would bend over backwards with incentives to pull it off and possibly breathe new life into the area.

 

[DLM1980]

My partner keeps watching Dream Cruises on AWE and every river cruise they show it's all senior citizen aged people. That said I would love to do one. However I feel if Disney would do one they would need to build a fleet of at least four ships right away. These boats are definitely smaller so fewer people but I think the demand would be so overwhelming that we would be in a "I need a be our guest reservation" situation where people are up at all hours of the night to snag a reservation. I don't Disney would be able to Castaway club booking windows on these because they would be eaten up by all the platinums before anyone else could book

Think about repositioning cruises too. What about going up the Mississippi through the Illinois waterway to get to the Great Lakes in the summer time. A possible Great Lakes tour or a ride up the St Lawrence Seaway

 

[WaywardMemphian]

I would love this and I think my kids would too if it had the movie theater, shows, etc. They wouldn't need an island, could probably buy some old falling apart town on the river and fix it up. Put in a water park and there you go.

There you go, an old river town with a merchantile, saloon/blues club, restaurants, and swimmin' hole.

 

[WaywardMemphian]

My partner keeps watching Dream Cruises on AWE and every river cruise they show it's all senior citizen aged people. That said I would love to do one. However I feel if Disney would do one they would need to build a fleet of at least four ships right away. These boats are definitely smaller so fewer people but I think the demand would be so overwhelming that we would be in a "I need a be our guest reservation" situation where people are up at all hours of the night to snag a reservation. I don't Disney would be able to Castaway club booking windows on these because they would be eaten up by all the platinums before anyone else could book

Think about repositioning cruises too. What about going up the Mississippi through the Illinois waterway to get to the Great Lakes in the summer time. A possible Great Lakes tour or a ride up the St Lawrence Seaway

I would have one smaller boat that would handle the locks along the upper Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, and Arkansas Rivers for those specialized inteneraries. Two large boats for the Lower Mississippi. There are no locks between St. Louis and New Orleans and these boats can be big as long as the have bridge clearance. No matter what, I would make them as big as I could for their missions.

Shallow draft boats required on the Rivers would not be 'ideal' on big water like the lakes. That would have to be a specialize boat. However that boat could likely do the Great Lakes, Chesapeake/Eastern Seaboard or Pac North cruises.

Besides I think the locks on the Illinois River are rather small to reposition a boat from the Ohio River to Chicago.

Some drawbacks to this is ship size, but River Cruises make Disney Ocean cruises look like a bargain. While you have less passengers, you also have less employees. Like I said the stage shows would be smaller productions and a film theater is no much overhead at all. Just make sure you have a good sized pool. If you go ith side wheels, locate it at the stern and have a side that's two to three stories.
Most cruises would be one ways, New Orleans-Memphis- St. Louis and vise versa. But when you do this, you can sell different lengths if that boat then goes up to St. Paul. Boats can even get Nashville, via the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers. These boats would have to be built in the US due to current law.

 

[chaseg03]

Something this adult would dispute.

Understandable, the reason I said this is I don't think my parents would cruise with DCL. I would think regent or something along those lines. Maybe adults really do enjoy DCL. After all, I wouldn't know. I'm not an adult.

 

[Dug720]

Something this adult would dispute.

As would this one. As would my parents. As would many other adults I know.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

As would this one. As would my parents. As would many other adults I know.

Me, too

 

[dclpluto]

My partner keeps watching Dream Cruises on AWE and every river cruise they show it's all senior citizen aged people. That said I would love to do one. However I feel if Disney would do one they would need to build a fleet of at least four ships right away. These boats are definitely smaller so fewer people but I think the demand would be so overwhelming that we would be in a "I need a be our guest reservation" situation where people are up at all hours of the night to snag a reservation. I don't Disney would be able to Castaway club booking windows on these because they would be eaten up by all the platinums before anyone else could book

Think about repositioning cruises too. What about going up the Mississippi through the Illinois waterway to get to the Great Lakes in the summer time. A possible Great Lakes tour or a ride up the St Lawrence Seaway

They will not have four right away. Disney will want to have the prices sky high.If they had 4 river boats the prices will have to be a lot lower to fill the river boats up.

 

[cmph]

I'm a St. Louis native. I guess I find this idea sort of intriguing, confusing, and a bit unlikely all at once. River cruises are about cruising past scenic locales. I think people are in for a bit of a shock when they float past barges and see all the rather industrial shoreside "scenery" in the St. Louis area. I'm not sure chemical companies, etc, are what people have in mind for their view. Maybe upriver or downriver, there is nicer scenery. On the other hand, people who miss casinos on Disney cruises could hop onto a casino boat when their cruise is in port.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The economics of river cruises are quite different, because of the ship build, registry andstaff. That is part of why river cruises are so expensive.

 

[chaseg03]

As would this one. As would my parents. As would many other adults I know.

Did I by any chance offend you? Or any other adult cruisers? Although your answer "As would this one. As would my parents. As would mnay other adults I know. " I was trying to say that Disney definitely keeps kids in mind. I feel like is a cruise line is perfect for kids. It good for adults and maybe one of the best for adults. Adults can have fun to but maybe it just go in my head adults hate the characters but they can have fun with them to. Maybe it's that word Disney, I'm not sure. I'm actually pretty confused why I said that considering there are many memebers on this site that go on atleast one cruise per year with families or solo. Sorry if I offended you in any way.